Encounter
by trallgorda
Summary: SG-1 accidentally gate onto a ship, which then enters hyperdrive, making it impossible for them to return to Earth. Who and what are the beings who live on the ship?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: You ever have an idea take over your mind and slowly seep its way in so that it eventually takes over almost every waking thought? Yeah. This is one of those. The plot rabbit gods have it in for me.

Chapter 1

"Okay, according to what came over the MALP, this place is unlike anything we've ever seen, so keep your eyes open," Jack cautioned his team as the Gate shut down behind them.

"Indeed," Teal'c said, looking around the room and staring at the alien architecture. "It is completely unlike any place I have seen before, O'Niell."

"Given the number of places you've been, Teal'c, and the places we've been, that's pretty amazing," Sam said, agreeing with him. "I wonder what kind of beings made this place."

"That's Daniel's job to figure out," Jack said, looking over to where Daniel was already craning his neck to get a look at something above his head. "Any thoughts, Danny-boy?"

Daniel turned around. "About what? The style of the building we're in, how advanced it is, the little script I've been able to find, or the fact that we've seen no signs that this place is still inhabited aside from a lack of dust?"

"Um, all of the above?"

That actually won a smile from Daniel. "Okay. I've found only this script here, and I'm guessing that it's their equivalent of, oh, a sign."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "A sign?"

"Well, it's the only writing there is in this room and it's placed pretty prominently so people will see it when they come in. There's no other script It could say something like, oh, 'Please do not stand in the path of the energy stream,' or 'Welcome to this planet'."

Sam nodded. "Any guesses on what it does say?"

Daniel looked back up at the sign and shook his head. "I have no idea," he admitted. "I don't have a clue, really. It resembles nothing I'm familiar with and I can't even begin to guess at the script's usage. There's no way for me to tell if it's pictographic, hieroglyphic, an alphabet, a syllabary, ceremonial, religious, or otherwise. It's really, really…out there, I guess."

Jack chuckled. "Well, we _are_ light-years from home."

"Ha-ha."

"All right, Teal'c and I are gonna look around a bit. Carter, you keep Daniel company since there're no funky gadgets you can play with. Daniel, you stay out of trouble."

"Mm-hmm," Daniel said distractedly, taking photos of the sign.

Jack and Teal'c left the room, staring all around them. The room itself had been gorgeous, all curving walls and light colors, but the hallway beyond looked like a gracious and large public space, complete with columns and an atrium that allowed people on the level above to see down.

Jack whistled. "Wow. This place looks like some offworld resort."

Teal'c was looking closely at a platform that came to about his ribs. "What is the purpose of these platforms between the columns?"

Jack looked. "Huh. Dunno. Maybe they were displays for something? Art? Conversation pieces? Coffee table books? We'll have to find out later. Do you see any more script anywhere? Anything for Carter to play with? Any people?"

Teal'c looked about. "No."

"Well, darn," Jack said, pivoting on one foot to get a three-sixty view. "You'd think they'd get curious about why their Gate activated. The place is in good repair, there's no dirt or debris lying about, the air is fresh, so it makes sense that there should still be people, right?"

"It does," Teal'c said, looking at the base of a nearby column. There was a decorative motif around the base of each and he was wondering if it were a form of script when the floor shifted a bit under his feet.

"What was that?" Jack asked, surprised. "Earth tremor?"

"It was not," Teal'c said, feeling a cold ball of dread form in his stomach. "I suspect that it was…" He hesitated, uncertain.

"Did you guys feel that?" Sam asked, coming out of the Gate room.

"Yeah," Jack answered. "Guesses?"

"O'Neill, I fear it was the structure itself moving," Teal'c said. "It felt like the structure was being moved by a hyperdrive."

Jack stared at him. "No. Oh, no. Are you sure?"

"Quite sure," Teal'c said as the air moving around them grew warmer. "There is an easy way to find out."

"Right," Jack said, heading back towards the Gate room at a run. "Daniel, dial it up!"

A few minutes later it became apparent that their location had changed and they were unable to dial Earth.

"So we're now on a ship," Daniel said, feeling a headache forming.

"Yep," Jack said, pacing. "And this time there are no obliging Goa'ulds to get us back home."

"We can't dial Earth, we can't dial an ally, we can't dial the Alpha site, we can't dial out period," Sam sighed. "I guess the only thing we can do is look around this ship and try to see if it can get us home."

"The address was in the computer; it should have led us to a _planet_," Jack said furiously. "Instead we get an abandoned, offworld cruise ship." He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "All right. Carter, Daniel, you head right, Teal'c and I'll take the left. Meet back here in one hour and keep in contact through your radios. Notify the other party immediately if there's a problem."

"Yes, sir," Sam said as she and Daniel prepared to go exploring. She was hoping that other parts of this ship would prove more interesting than the little they'd seen so far.

They headed off to the left while the colonel and Teal'c went right, but fifteen minutes later the ship was still boring. For her, at least. Daniel was in linguist's heaven as he studied the script-covered walls they'd found. "Any ideas on what it says?"

"No clue," Daniel admitted as he took photographs. "Still, it's fascinating."

Sam gave him another minute to finish taking pictures before insisting that they press on, reminding him that they were supposed to be looking for a way back to Earth. Another five minutes or so of wandering the hallways and she stopped, thinking hard. "Daniel, do you think that we could be missing doors? I mean, do you think we're just not seeing them? We haven't gone through any doors or doorways and we're just wandering the halls."

Daniel thought about it. "That's a possibility, I think. The thing is, how are we going to be able to tell if a door is there?"

Sam sighed and leaned against the wall behind her, uttering a little yelp as the wall suddenly opened and she fell to the floor inside a room they hadn't even realized was there.

Daniel stared after her and smiled. "Well, I guess that's one way to find out," he said. "And...convenient."

"Ha, ha, ha," Sam said, picking herself up while Daniel joined her inside the room. "Where are we?" she asked, peering into the dark.

Daniel looked around, and as he passed the wall immediately inside the door lights came up, revealing a room done in colors of blue and gray. "Um…call me crazy, but it looks like living quarters," he said.

Sam looked around. "If these are living quarters, then they're living quarters for a flippin' giant," she said, impressed with the size of the bed. It was the size of…well, it was big. All four of them could fit inside it and have enough wiggle room besides! "I can't believe how high this is. How would anyone get into bed, a stepladder?"

"I can't think of another way, unless whoever sleeps here is a lot bigger," Daniel suggested. "Do you see anything that might tell us about who might live here? Anything that looks like personal belongings?"

"Do _you_ see any?" Sam wanted to know.

"Um, no," Daniel admitted after looking.

Sam's radio squawked. _"Carter, Daniel, report."_

Sam pushed the talk button. "Yes, sir," she said. "Daniel and I have found what looks like living quarters, sir, but very little else. Some more writing out in the hall. That's about it."

"_Well, you guys have found more than we have. We haven't been able to find any doors whatsoever. Stay put. We're coming to join you. O'Neill out."_

"Roger that," Sam said before putting her radio away.

It didn't take long for Jack and Teal'c to find them since each hallway seemed to have a color scheme and the color schemes made it easy to learn and find your way around. After radioing Sam twice for verification on their direction, the colonel and Teal'c arrived, more than a little eager to see something that was not a hallway or the Gate room.

"Cool," Jack said as soon as he stepped inside with Teal'c right behind him. "Carter, do you think--"

Whatever he'd been about to say was abruptly cut off by the sound of the door behind him closing. All of them ran for the rapidly-shrinking opening, but it closed far too quickly for them to get out.

"Dammit!" Jack shouted, pounding his fist against the door. "Open up!"

"I can't even find where the wall ends and the door begins," Sam said, sounding incredibly frustrated. "I mean, I can't tell what's door and what's wall."

Daniel leaned against the spot where the door had been, hoping it would open the way it had before, but nothing happened. All of his teammates were looking at him as if confused. "Sam leaned against the wall and the door opened, which is how we got here. I figured it was worth a try."

"Ah," Jack said. "I'm starting to think that you guys finding this place wasn't an accident. I mean, it's just a little too neat, you know?"

"You feel we are being watched," Teal'c surmised.

"Oh, yeah," Jack drawled. "I'm starting to think this place isn't abandoned. Whoever's here, they want us all in a nice, contained area and we walked right into it. They knew that by giving Daniel and Carter something to report that report would draw us here." He stopped and looked around the room. "And here we are, nice and stuck until they decide to let us out."

Carter grinned. "Aren't you forgetting something, sir?"

Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Carter?"

"We could probably just zat our way out," she told him, holding up a zat. "Three shots."

"Go for it," Jack ordered.

Sam fired three times, but nothing happened.

"Uh...any guesses on why it didn't work?" Daniel asked.

Sam fired three more times. "Not really."

"Right," Jack said, sounding worried. "Teal'c, try your staff weapon." All of them stepped behind the Jaffa as the weapon primed and pressed their hands over their ears before he fired. Two blasts went off and all of them peered at the door as the smoke cleared.

"Ventilation's working," Daniel remarked.

"Good to know," Jack said, looking at the door. "Shouldn't there be at least a little scorch mark or something?"

"I don't believe it!" Sam said, shaking her head. "This thing doesn't look as if we've been firing at it all!"

"All right, all of you get down," Jack told them. "I'm going to use my P-90. See if that works."

Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c dropped down and covered their heads while Jack opened fire. Once the gunshots died away they looked at the door, only to find that all of their trying had not made the slightest bit of difference. Instead, they found all the bullets that Jack had fired laying on the floor inches from the door masquerading as a wall.

"Okay, so we are stuck," Sam muttered. "Perfect."

"Yep," Jack said, sounding just as mad as Sam was. "Anyone think to bring any magazines?"

Daniel prowled the room while everyone else began searching for a different way out. He was certain that if they kept looking around they would find something that would tell them more about the people who were holding them and in this type of situation, knowledge was power. He ran his hands over the walls, hoping he would trigger--

"How'd you do that?" Jack demanded, noticing that a smaller opening had appeared under Daniel's fingertips.

"I just touched it," he admitted. "I was hoping something like that would happen."

"Is it a way out?" Sam asked as the entire team joined Daniel.

"Well, it leads to another room. Think we should take a look?"

Five minutes showed it to be nothing more exciting than a highly-sophisticated bathroom. Most of the functions ran automatically when you touched them, as Daniel found out when he entered what he'd thought was a doorway.

"Aah!"

Jack whipped around. "Daniel?"

Daniel came out of the smaller space he'd entered. "Found the shower."

Jack surveyed his dripping-wet friend. "_That's_ from a few seconds in the shower?"

Daniel looked at himself. "Yeah, well. The water kind of came at me from all sides. I'm...gonna go back to the other room to dry off and change."

"Um, why don't all the rest of us go out?" Sam suggested. "That way you won't have to drip water everywhere."

"That's a better idea," Daniel said, toeing off his boots and removing his jacket. "My pack's just outside the doorway there."

Five minutes later Daniel was in his spare change of clothes and had rejoined them in his sock feet to discuss what to do next. All three of his friends were settled on large cushions on the floor, which had been the only seats available.

Jack looked at his feet. "Boots are soaked?"

"I hope they dry out," Daniel muttered. "I hate wet shoes."

"Right," Jack said. "Anyone have any thoughts?"

"This ship is not abandoned," Teal'c said quietly. "It is possible that we are being watched. It is also possible that they are a careful and thoughtful species."

Jack blinked and shifted on his cushion. "Come again?"

"My conclusions are mainly composed of conjecture," Teal'c said. "However, I feel that this race has put a lot of thought into how they want our first encounter with them to go. It is likely that there are areas of the ship that could be dangerous, so the doors were hidden in an effort to guide us here. They have not approached us yet. That may mean that they are quite different from us and so have kept away in order to study us and to determine what way it will be easiest for us to meet them. That argues for their being both thoughtful and careful."

"I think I agree with Teal'c," Daniel confessed. "It seems like they don't want us to be hurt or more worried than we have to be, given the circumstances, so that's why we've been led to their version of guest quarters. They don't want us to be stressed or hurt by wandering around the ship."

"I'd call being confined stressful," Sam said.

"Yeah, and if they're trying to keep us from hurting ourselves they're not doing too good a job," Jack added. "I mean, we've got projectile and energy weapons. We could go stir-crazy from being cooped up and shoot ourselves."

Daniel fought down an amused smile. Trust Jack to come up with that! "Maybe they're hoping that we're not suicidal."

"Yet," Jack said, fighting down a grin. "Once the walls start closing in these beings will have something to worry about."

--

According to Jack's watch, it was twenty-three hundred. He and Carter were going to take first watch while Daniel and Teal'c got some rest on the huge bed. None of them thought that anything would happen during the night, but it was better to be safe than sorry, as the saying went. After marking the doors' locations with black tape they'd spent the entire day talking and guessing about their hosts, and more than once they distracted themselves from the problem at hand by playing games and talking about things the way they usually did when they just wanted to talk and enjoy one another's company. Supper had been dry rations and bottled water since they'd had no way to heat water for MREs, and now they were settling in for the night.

"How are we going to get up into that?" Daniel wondered, regarding the giant bed. He would have preferred to sleep on a cushion, but they were a bit too small and thin for him to get comfortable. Aside from that, the bed would be safer if anyone came in during the night.

Without a word Teal'c came up behind his friend and catapulted him into the air so that he landed in the middle of the massive piece of furniture. He disappeared temproarily from view as the comforter on the bed fluffed up around him.

"Oh. Thanks, Teal'c."

"You are welcome."

Jack and Sam both had to hide their smiles as Daniel sat up and looked around. "How's it feel up there, Danny-boy?"

Daniel shifted over to get out of Teal'c's way as the Jaffa hoisted himself up. "Um, it's pretty comfortable. It'll be easy to fall asleep."

"Good," Jack said, waving his hand. "Get to sleeping. We'll wake you guys in a few hours."

Daniel flopped into the pillow behind his head and stretched out while Teal'c made himself comfortable but a second later both of them sat upright as the lights dimmed. The lights came back up.

"The lights must go down when somebody lays down on the bed," Carter guessed. "Lay back down, guys. Go to sleep."

It didn't take them long. Ten minutes more and Daniel was asleep, and another five minutes was all it took for Teal'c. Since he'd begun taking tretonin it was easier for him to actually sleep, but he still had to kel'no'reem daily in order to be at his best.

For an hour, nothing happened other than Daniel rolling over once or twice. Another hour and Jack was starting to hope that he'd be able to last until it was his turn to get some rest. He was getting tired.

Carter yawned. "Man, this watch is taking forever!"

Alarm bells rang in Jack's head. "Carter, are you tired? I mean, really, really tired all of a sudden?"

Sam thought about it, comprehension dawning on her face as she took Jack's question in. "Yeah, actually. Do you think whoever's keeping us in here might...?"

A sudden wave of dizziness hit Jack like a sledgehammer-wielding truck. "Oh, I think that's a distinct possibility."

If Carter made a reply he didn't hear it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jack woke up after having some very, very odd dreams. In his dreams he'd been surrounded by odd parodies of human beings, chattering to one another while they stared at him. He could remember being cold for a brief time, then warmer as something changed. The whole time he heard the chatter of the beings around him and had to endure feeling their fingers on him. Finally, they went away, leaving him to rest and he was deeply thankful. He was warm and comfortable, surrounded by something soft and lightly scented with an odd floral scent that made him feel even more comfortable. He would be perfectly content to spend the rest of his life lying on the soft surface under him with the soft warmth covering him.

"Sir?"

Who was talking? Couldn't they tell he wanted to sleep?

"Sir? Colonel O'Neill, sir, please wake up."

Of their own accord, his eyes opened and he saw Carter staring down at him. With this reminder of his real life, the last of his cloudy-headedness faded. "Carter?"

"Yes, sir," she said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

Jack appeared to think about this. "Odd. Decidedly…odd. What the heck happened? What, did we pass out?"

"I think so," she admitted. "That's not all that happened. I've had a few minutes to look around."

Foreboding settled over Jack as he sat up. That was when he realized that he wasn't wearing his BDUs. Instead, it looked like he was wearing as close to "white infirmary scrubs" as any garments could be. "Carter? How'd I get into these?" He looked at her and realized she was wearing the same outfit he was. They were both in or on a very large bed with a fluffy blue comforter.

"No idea," she said, leaning over the edge of the bed. "How's it coming, Teal'c?"

"Slowly," Teal'c answered from below.

Jack was taking in more details about his surroundings now. He and Carter were in a large bed of their own, they'd been tucked underneath a comforter similar to the one on Daniel and Teal'c's bed, and there was a rail along the side of the bed to serve as a guard against falling out. From the way Carter was looking over the edge and looking directly down, Daniel and Teal'c's bed was directly below theirs. Now, why hadn't they noticed the top bunk before now? Sure, the bed had had posts, but had there been a second bed? Alien bunk beds. Who knew?

"How'd we get up here?" he asked, heading to the edge of the bed and looking down.

"You know as much as I do," Sam said, feeling more than a little frustrated. Getting out of bed and to the bathroom was becoming an urgent matter for her and she was still trapped. "Teal'c, do you think…maybe you could find a way to get me down? I'd really like to get down."

It took Teal'c only half a second to grasp what she was saying. "Try standing on my shoulders, Major Carter," he suggested.

A minute later, using their faithful (and much put-upon) Jaffa friend as a living ladder, both Sam and Jack were out of their bed and down on the floor. Sam ran into the bathroom while Teal'c and Jack set about trying to wake Daniel. A minute later Sam returned, carrying something. "Wipe this on his face," she suggested, handing it to Teal'c.

"What is it?" Jack asked, staring at something that was shaped like a flattened plush cloud.

"I think it's their version of a wash cloth," Sam said. "There's a whole stack of them on a counter in the bathroom and I held it under a faucet for a little bit."

"Aah!" Daniel gasped as Teal'c swiped the cloth across his face. "What is that?"

"Your wake-up call," Jack said.

Daniel stared at all of them, then looked down at himself. "Where are all our clothes? More to the point, where's all our stuff? Didn't we leave our packs by the cushions?"

Jack looked. "We did. Dammit. Looks like someone came in here in the middle of the night and gave us some new outfits while taking away everything else."

Daniel shuddered. "I wish you hadn't said that."

Jack's mental antennae went up. "Weird dreams? Tall, elongated people that talked a lot? Being touched?"

This time all of them shuddered as Jack's words brought back memories. "Yeah," Daniel admitted. "You guys, too?"

"Indeed," Teal'c said grimly.

"It was like…nothing was hidden from them as soon as they touched me," Sam said. "The worst thing was that they kept doing it even though I told them to stop."

Daniel turned a distinct shade of green. "Ooh. Could we not talk about this? Or maybe talk about it later? When the memory's faded a little bit?"

"Sounds like a plan," Jack said, more than eager to discuss this at a later date. Preferably, he'd never discuss it.

The best way they all knew to avoid talking about disquieting events was to actually do something, so that was what they did. They got out of bed and battled with the comforters to get them made, washed up, and they wandered their room, examining the changes that had been made while they'd slept.

The room was no longer the bare, empty box it had been when they'd first entered it. Bigger, fluffier cushions had been added and the old ones taken away. A table and chairs had been set up in the center of the room and color had been added by several rugs on the floor. Mirrors had broken up the monotony of the gray walls, giving the illusion of windows. A long stand ran along one wall and was covered in potted plants, giving a little life to the room. All in all, the room definitely had a better feel.

Teal'c had been surveying the room. "It appears they wish us to be comfortable, O'Neill."

Jack looked at Teal'c, unable to resist. "Indeed?"

Sam and Daniel lost it, sinking onto the cushions, laughing fit to burst. Jack joined them soon after and even Teal'c began chuckling.

"Indeed, O'Neill," he said after a moment, and that comment set them all off again.

They lay on the cusions, occasionally laughing for the next few minutes, glad for the release of laughter. In the comfortable silence that followed, Jack heard a stomach growl, followed shortly by his own. "Anyone else hungry?"

"Starved," Sam confirmed. "Think they'll feed us?"

"Well, if they don't they'll have a real problem on their hands," he answered.

"Let's hope they have food we can eat," Daniel said. "I can't believe they took our packs! Our weapons I can understand--you know, they can be dangerous--but why'd they have to take everything else?"

"Any guesses, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel thought about it. "Well, it could be a cultural thing," he said thoughtfully. "They may not understand our culture, so they may view our possessions as bad. They may want to teach us 'better' ways, so they took everything so we would start learning. Either that, or they took all that stuff to examine it so they could learn about us."

"Is that what could be going on here?" Jack asked.

"To be honest, I have no idea," Daniel confessed. "I won't really be able to tell until we actually meet our hosts and see how they act with one another and with us." He paused and thought about everything for a moment. "Okay, this might sound crazy, but it's worth a try. Let's sit at the table and see what happens."

None of them understood. "What's that supposed to do?" Sam asked.

"Well, maybe by sitting at the table we'll be letting them know that we're ready to eat," Daniel clarified.

It was easier said than done. The table was high and the chairs were of a size to fit the table, so it took a bit of climbing to get up into the chairs. Eventually, they all managed to get into chairs and Daniel did a quick count. "There are four extra chairs. We could be getting four of them coming to see us."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and we'll get one," Jack hoped. He was starting to feel nervous. He looked down at the table and saw that at its present height it reached his sternum. With that height and the way the chairs were too big, he felt like a kid sitting at a table made for adults. Oh, for a booster seat! "At least, I hope it'll be one."

"One would be good," Teal'c agreed.

"Oh, yeah."

"SHH!" Daniel said, eyes wide. "You hear that?"

They listened.

"Footsteps," Sam breathed. "Daniel, I think your table theory just panned out."

"Joy unending," Daniel said quietly, still sounding worried. By this point they were all watching the door.

Without a sound, the door opened and four figures entered the room. Immediately the three Tau'ri had to look away before trying to look at the beings. Even Daniel, who was used to odd things, had to look away before being able to look at them.

"Thoughts?" Jack asked, forcing himself to look.

"It looks like they're human, but they've been...stretched, I think," Sam said. "Stretched and tweaked. They're different enough not to appear human, but they're close enough so that they seem like it."

"When was the last time we reacted to a race like this?" Teal'c said, being generous in including himself in the number who were having problems.

"Last year," Daniel said. "The Orlas."

All of them remembered the Orlas. They had looked very odd to the humans, but to the Orlas, the humans' looks were fascinating. Once humans arrived on their planet they spent the majority of their time staring at them and trying to talk to them as an excuse to stare some more.

It appeared their present hosts felt the same way because they were all staring at them. It took a great deal of discipline for all of them not to pull away as the beings came closer. All of them were carrying containers, which they set on the table. One of them gabbled something at the humans.

"I think he just said hello," Daniel said.

"Great," Jack said, keeping a wary eye on the beings.

"What do you think these containers are?" Sam asked.

"I hope it's breakfast," Jack said.

"I hope that these containers contain breakfast as well, O'Neill."

The tall beings began to take their seats and too late all of SG-1 realized their error in sitting down. When at a round table, they each sat at the four points of the compass so they could talk to one another. This meant that the only seats available to the beings were the ones in between, so now the seating arrangement was human-alien, human-alien and so on. All four of them had an alien on either side of them. Daniel thought about this and reminded himself that to the beings, the humans were the aliens, but it was scant comfort.

One of the aliens was gabbling to them, pointing at himself and gabbling, then pointing at his companions and gabbling. Daniel tried without success to make sense out of the gabbles and to learn their names, but his tongue couldn't seem to handle the language. Finally, each of the aliens tried to teach him, pointing to himself and saying something much, much shorter. These new names Daniel tried and he found he could somewhat manage them.

"So, what are their names?" Sam asked.

Daniel pointed to the spokesman. "He's Ebbas. That one there is Lralda, the next one is Shansarra, and the final one is Bhanhana."

"Yikes," Jack said, praying he could pronounce all of the names. More than likely, though, his efforts would cause a lot of amusement. "Okay. Ebbas," he said, pointing. "Larladla, Shansarra, and Banana."

"You got half," Daniel said, running through their names again. It took several minutes of practicing for all of the humans to get their names correct, but once they all managed it, their hosts began bobbing their heads up and down, grimacing.

"What'd we do?" Sam asked, surprised at the faces they were making.

"Um...I think they're trying to smile in order to make us feel comfortable," Daniel said.

"Well, tell 'em to stop!" Jack said. "I'm starting to freak out!"

"Perhaps they are impersonating bobble-head dolls?" Teal'c suggested.

That suggestion was so out there but made so much odd sense that SG-1 relaxed. After all, weirder things had happened.

"How did they know to nod and smile?" Sam asked after a moment.

"Well, I'm starting to think that they learned those things while they were watching us. Since we've been in this room we've smiled and nodded to each other."

"Gabble-gabble," Ebbas said, pointing at Daniel.

"Daniel," Daniel said, supplying his name. When Ebbas pointed at a person, Daniel supplied the name and soon the beings were gabbling the names of SG-1.

"Dannel, Dannel, Dannel--"

"Tillk, Tillk, Tillk, Tillk--"

"Samm, Samm, Samm--"

"Jakk, Jakk, Jakk--"

More nodding and grimacing.

"Oy," Jack said, feeling more than a little overwhelmed.

"Oy!" cried Larladla joyfully. "Oyoyoy!"

"I think our words are easy for them to say," Daniel guessed.

"Do you think they'd understand the word 'eat'?" Jack said hopefully, looking at the containers.

"Eeeet!" Ebbas said.

"Yes!" Jack said, miming eating. "Eat!"

The beings started gabbling again as they reached for the containers and opened them. Delicious and savory smells wafted out and Daniel felt his mouth water.

"Red alert," Jack said. "Breakfast ahead."

"At last," Teal'c breathed.

Ebbas moved a container within Daniel's reach and gabbled something, probably an invitation to eat.

"Thank you," Daniel said, taking a piece of whatever it was. He waited until everyone was served before taking a bite and he had to smile. "Mmmm."

"MMMMM!" Ebbas agreed, finishing off his portion in two bites. "MMMM!"

"Thank God it tastes good," Jack said.

"I'm guessing they examined our rations to see what kind of food we could eat," Sam said. "Any guesses on what we're eating, Daniel?"

"Could be a grain dish," Daniel said. "The texture feels like cooked grain." He finished off what he was eating and looked for more, which Ebbas was quick to offer. "This is vegetable, I think."

Jack tried some of the same. "Definitely vegetable."

Teal'c took something that Larladla offered. "Protein."

"Meat? Fish? Nuts? Beans?" Daniel asked.

Teal'c tasted it again. "Good," he offered. "I am unable to tell exactly what it is."

"As long as it's good," Jack said lightly, taking a portion for himself. He tasted it, chewed, then delivered a verdict. "Its texture is like fish, but it tastes kind of like a hot dog mixed with turkey."

"Sounds interesting," Sam said, taking a portion which Banhana offered. "Thank you."

"Tankoo!" he said brightly. "Tankoo, Samm!"

Ebbas was fussing with the bottom of a small container, and a minute later Daniel saw the container open up. Inside it were cups, and another container was opened to reveal water. Each of the humans were poured a cup of water, which they were more than eager for after their long sleep.

"Tastes nice and fresh," Daniel said, finishing off his cup, which Ebbas promptly refilled. "I guess they figured we would be thirsty."

"Parched is more like it," Sam said.

"Pahartched!" Banhana said, pouring her more water. "Pahartched!"

Jack finished off his water and shook his head when Ebbas offered more. "Daniel, do you think they'd understand a request to be let out?"

Daniel considered this. "I have no idea," he admitted. "They might understand it, but would they actually do it?"

"Could you try?" Teal'c asked.

Daniel tried. He pointed to himself, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c, and the pointed to the door. He went through the same charade three times before Ebbas seemed to understand. Daniel did the same thing again and looked at Ebbas as if asking him.

Ebbas shook his head vigorously.

Daniel tried again, and this time, all four of the beings shook their heads.

"Well, that's as big a 'no' as I've ever seen," Jack said. "Daniel, I think they're starting to get worried. Could you reassure them?"

Daniel said all four of their names and pointed at the door again. More vigorous head-shaking on the beings' part. Then, he said SG-1's names again and motioned that they would stay in the room. This time, their hosts relaxed and nodded vigorously.

_If they nod any harder, they'll snap their necks,_ Jack thought. "So we're definitely stuck in this room for a little while," he said.

"Looks like it," Daniel confirmed. "I hope it's not long, though."

--

General George Hammond was officially worried about his flagship team. When they'd missed their call-home point, he'd ordered the Gate dialed to their location and a ripple of shock had run through the control room when the Gate failed to connect. Several attempts had yielded the same result, and by that time, he had to admit that reaching SG-1 was impossible. Only a few options left him with any explanation as to why the Gate would not dial and none of them reassured him. One, the DHD on their side could have ceased functioning. If that were the case, Hammond reasoned, then SG-1 would have dialed manually. Two, the Gate could lack enough power to dial out. If that were the case, then SG-1 would manage something to give the Gate power. Three, the Gate's location could have changed so that their point of origin was no longer valid from that side. If that were it, then it stood to reason that SG-1 was on a ship.

That worried him beyond description.

Still, this was SG-1. They'd managed to do impossible things before against impossible odds. It was almost certain that they would manage the impossible yet again.

However, in times of quiet, when he wasn't being distracted by the many details of running a base, one phrase would haunt him.

There's a first time for everything.

--

The rest of the day passed in more of the same. Their hosts did not leave and the entire day was spent in talking. Slowly, Daniel began to pick up words in the beings' language, and each new evidence of learning on his part was greeted and lauded with hand clapping, vigorous nodding, and lots of grimace-smiles. Slowly, the rest of SG-1 began to pick up words, and that meant more hand-clapping, nodding, and grimace-smiles. Banhana left at one point just as the humans were getting hungry again and returned, carrying a large box full of smaller containers.

"Lunchtime," Sam said as Banhana motioned them all to the table.

"Smells good," Jack said, struggling up into his seat. Just as he'd almost gotten up into his chair hands grasped his waist from behind and lifted him into his place. He froze and looked up at Ebbas. "Um, thanks."

"Gabble-gabble," Ebbas said.

Teal'c was the only one who managed to get up into his seat before helpful beings reached him.

"What's with this helpfulness all of a sudden?" Jack wanted to know as lunch was served up.

"Well, we are a lot smaller than they are," Daniel said thoughtfully. "It may be that they think we need help due to our smaller size."

"We did just fine before," Sam protested. "Why now?"

"Well, they weren't here before."

The food took second place to conversation as they learned the words for what they were eating and the utensils they were using. This time, the meal required plates and silverware in addition to the containers and cups. Once lunch was over Ebbas and his friends tidied things up in seconds and resumed language lessons.

"Okay," Jack said. "Who feels like they're in school with no recess?"

Still, they kept up with it. The sooner they learned to communicate with these beings, the better. The afternoon passed quickly and Daniel made the most progress. He learned that the beings called their race Avwand and there were many of them on the ship. Just what the ship's purpose was out in space was a question that they couldn't understand or wouldn't answer when Daniel asked it. He also learned that the Avwand had been calling the humans the equivalent of "little ones," which seemed to have some special significance to the Avwand that Daniel couldn't figure out. He explained all this while the Avwand were getting their dinner.

"Okay, so they're Avwand. You taught them our name, right?"

"I did," Daniel told him. "They still prefer the term 'Dhanha-amti' to 'human.'"

"Aw, this language is a pain," Jack complained. "Too much...weirdness."

"English seems to be simple in comparison," Teal'c said.

"Oh, yeah," Sam agreed, remembering the non-stop chatter of English words as the Avwand learned them. "They just love English."

"Still, they're insisting we use their words," Daniel pointed out. "Looks like they want us to learn their language as fast as possible, which is all to the good in this situation."

"How long are you guessing it will take?" Jack wanted to know.

Daniel pursed his lips and sighed. "Um..."

"I'm guessing a while?"

"Yup."

"Oy."

"Oyoyoyoy!" Shansarra said as he and his friends came back in. "Oy!"

At that, the humans had to laugh. The Avwand had grasped by now that laughter was a happy sound, so they joined in with their own version, on odd kind of yipping and barking mixed with gasping. The first time SG-1 had heard it they'd thought their hosts had been choking to death, but they soon understood that this was the equivalent of Avwand laughter.

Dinner was even more complicated than lunch had been. This time there was soup and an actual entree in addition to the finger foods that they'd had earlier. More words and phrases allowed them to say which dish was good or tasty. They learned the words for sweet, salty, hot, and cold, but 'ew' wasn't available yet. Jack had requested that word after tasting something he'd absolutely hated.

"Don't eat it, then," Daniel told him when Jack complained. "They'll figure out soon enough you don't like it and then they won't serve it to you again. Either that, or they'll insist you eat it because it's good for you," he said lightly.

"It's not like I'm still eight years old and complaining about lima beans, here, Daniel."

"Well, they don't know that."

Soon after dinner was over Banhana took the dishes and leftovers away and returned with a box full of other things which he immediately opened and distributed.

"Yes!" Daniel said, seeing shiny white boards and some kind of odd implements in Ebbas' hands.

"What?" Sam asked.

"If I'm not wrong, I think those are their equivalent to whiteboards and erasable markers," he said as Ebbas sat down and handed them out to the humans. Ebbas demonstrated their use Daniel's supposition panned out.

"Awesome," Sam said. "We can...well, what difference will these make?"

"I think they've noticed that we're having trouble pronouncing their language," Daniel explained. "If we learn how to write the words, then we wouldn't spend so much time trying to get the pronunciation correct. They would understand us sooner."

"If it speeds up communication, then I'm all for it," Jack said wholeheartedly. "Let's learn how to write, campers."

An hour later and Daniel had learned their writing system, which was an alphabet with a symbol for each sound in their language. Once he had the alphabet down Daniel's language capabilities jumped through the roof since each written word showed him exactly how to pronounce it and suddenly he was speaking in complete sentences to the Avwand, which they loved. They started giving him more and more words, which led to sentences. Whenever a sentence's pronunciation was beyond him, he wrote it down and they taught him how to say it so he could say what he wanted.

"Daniel, could you ask them about going out?" Jack wanted to know. "See what their reaction is now."

Once he'd written that question down he wished he hadn't. They shook their heads hard and kept saying their words for 'no' and 'bad' over and over again.

"Can you ask them why?" Jack said, seeing their reaction.

Carefully, making sure they could see what he was writing, Daniel wrote, "Why not?"

"Bad," Ebbas said, wiping Daniel's words away. "Outside bad. No go. Understand?"

Sam understood what Ebbas had said. "Daniel, ask them why it's bad."

He wrote, "Why bad?"

"BAD," Ebbas insisted. "Bad for Dhanha-amti."

"But _why_?" Daniel finally asked in their own language. "Why outside bad?"

"Outside BAD," Banhana said firmly. "No go. NO."

Daniel felt a headache start. They'd been at this in the hours since supper and they'd been at this all day with hardly a break and he was more than a little tired and frustrated. To be told once again that they weren't going outside their room because it was bad and not being told _why_ it was bad was getting to him. "Oh, gimme a break."

The mood turned more than a little ugly on the humans' part. They were tired, their heads hurt with all the new information that they'd forced into them that day, and their situation was wearing on them. The Avwand all seemed to realize that they'd expected their human charges to take too much.

"Gabble," Ebbas said, seeming to come to a decision. He leaned down and scooped up Jack, lifting him up and carrying him across the room before depositing him on the upper bunk.

"Hey!" Jack complained. "No way! Let me down right now, got me, Ebbas?"

"Gabble-gabble," Ebbas said comfortingly. "Gabble good for Dhanha-amti."

"What?" Sam demanded as she was lifted and placed beside Jack. "Daniel?"

"I'm guessing that's their word for 'sleep' or 'rest,'" Daniel said as he tried to evade Shansarra's hands. "Oh, honestly! Let go! NO!"

That word the Avwand understood, but Shansarra merely gabbled at him and put him on his bed. Teal'c followed shortly afterward, his face murderous.

The lights dimmed as the Avwand insisted on covering up their charges and making sure they were comfortable before they left. Jack fought to sit up and found himself suddenly too bone-tired to get up.

"Anyone else exhausted?" Sam asked. "All of a sudden, I mean?"

"Yes, but maybe this is the first time we've realized just how tired we are," Daniel said, wishing he had the energy to get up. "We've met an alien race on an alien ship, started to learn tehir language, and we've learned that we're going to be cooped up for a little while longer. That's enough to tire anyone out."

"Indeed," Teal'c growled. "However, this will not happen again. I will not allow it."

"I agree with Teal'c," Jack said, fighting off a yawn. "Let's get some rest and we'll try to make plans in the morning, okay? We need to let these people know that they can't force us to do things. Agreed?"

"Agreed," they all said.

"Good," Jack said, but only Teal'c heard him. Sam and Daniel were asleep, and a moment later, Jack and Teal'c joined them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When they woke up, they found that things had changed again. For one thing, Daniel and Teal'c found that someone had installed a stepladder so they could get down from bed easily, and even better was an actual _ladder_ leading up to Jack and Sam's bunk.

"This is more like it," Sam said with relish as she climbed down unaided. "Bless those thoughtful, thoughtful beings."

"I'll bless 'em into next week," Jack muttered, following Sam. "Putting us into bed when we didn't want to go!" He was more than a little sore at abruptly losing any semblance of control the night before.

"It's nice not to have to risk our necks," Sam insisted. "For that, I'm willing to forgive them."

"They don't have to make changes while we're asleep," Jack persisted. "I mean, knowing that they're prowling this room while we're asleep is more than a little scary. They can just do this stuff while we're awake. I wouldn't mind, would you?"

"No," she admitted while Daniel and Teal'c joined them.

"Neither I nor Daniel Jackson would mind, but the problem of how to convey that fact to them remains," Teal'c pointed out.

"Touche," Jack conceded.

"I have a feeling that now that we're learning to write their language, communication will become a lot easier," Daniel said, his gaze wandering the room and lighting on something on the table. "Oh. What do you think is in that box?"

"Or on those shelves?" Sam asked, spotting something on the opposite side of the room from the box.

SG-1 had an amusing moment or two as they watched Daniel waver between the box and the shelves. His curiosity was pulling him in both directions and unfortunately, his body wouldn't stretch that much.

"Wonder what's in this cabinet?" Jack asked, examining one that had been placed near the beds.

Daniel's struggle now became three-way.

"I'm not yet that curious," Sam said, heading into the bathroom. "Oh!"

Sam's exclamation of surprise ended Daniel's dilemma as all the men rushed into the bathroom after her, intent on protecting her from whatever it was that had surprised her.

"They did stuff in here, too," she said, pivoting on one foot while she took everything in.

Indeed they had. Large, soft rugs covered the floor in front of the shower, the head, the sinks, and the sunken tub. Stepstools had been placed in front of the sinks and counters so they could reach. A counter held the wash cloths they were already familiar with, but bottles and a stack of what looked like building blocks were new. Upon examination they found that the bottles and blocks were nothing more exciting than cleansing agents. What could be called toothbrushes and a bottle of cleansing solution were next, and then, fluffy, soft towels that were the size of a small front yard.

"If you gentlemen need to use the head, I suggest you do it now," Sam said, sounding very, very determined.

"Why?" Jack asked.

She looked at him with a steely glance. "I'm going to take a long, proper bath."

When Sam had that look in her eye they knew better than to argue with her. Once the needful had been taken care of, Sam settled into a tub of steaming hot water for the first time in what seemed like ages. From the blissful sigh that all three men heard, they knew it would be hopeless to try to get her out of there before lunch.

"Okay, while Carter is impersonating a lobster, let's look around," Jack said. "Daniel, you look in the box. Teal'c, you take the shelves; I'll take the cupboard."

Daniel went over to the table and stopped in surprise. "Huh. Well, looks like they tweaked the table."

"How's that?" Jack asked, opening the cupboard.

"I can reach," Daniel said happily, sitting down in a chair without the need to climb up into it first. The table was at a comfortable height and with little effort Daniel pulled the box toward himself and opened it.

"There are books here," Teal'c said, looking at the shelves. "They are printed in their language."

"No surprises there," Jack said, poking about in the cupboard. "There are changes of clothes in here for all of us. Even something like shoes, finally. What's in the box, Danny-boy?"

"I'm still not sure," Daniel said thoughtfully, still staring into the box. "Given what could be taken as universals across cultures, I'd say these were…well, it seems silly, but I think this box is full of stuff for us to play with."

"Knick-knacks?" Jack asked. There was yet to be a knick-knack safe from his restless fingers.

"No, not really," Daniel said as his two friends joined him. "At least, I don't think so. Come take a look."

Daniel turned the box on its side so the contents could spill out. All three men stared at figurines of beings, alien animals, and structures, as well as what could have been a miniature model of the ship they were on. In addition to those items were several balls (when bounced they put super-balls to shame!), little stuffed animals, roly-poly figures, what could have been dolls with plenty of accompanying doll clothes, and odd little items that had enough moving parts to keep an engineer happy. A box held several jigsaw puzzles and another box the same size held about a dozen smaller containers of a soft compound that reminded all of them of Play-Doh. A cloth bag held some sort of building blocks, and a smaller box held items that could be called crayons or colored pencils. The entire box held a kid's paradise.

"What the hey?" Jack said, staring at everything. "What are they giving us toys for?"

"You were not joking when you said that the items were for us to play with," Teal'c said, examining one of the toy figures. "However, I agree with O'Neill. What purpose would these serve?"

Daniel began to think about everything he'd seen so far and slowly, his head put it together. "Oh, my gosh. Guys, I think they think we're kids."

Jack stared at him. "What?!" The last thing he wanted any alien race to consider him was a child. With the Nox it had been bad enough, being called "very young" all the time, but to be actively treated like a child…! It didn't bear thinking about.

"Think about it," Daniel said, not knowing what Jack had just been thinking. "The way they've been taking care of us, the way they just, um, put us to bed last night, the way they helped us up into chairs…the way they're keeping us in this room away from anything 'bad'…It makes sense, doesn't it?"

"And that's why I feel a headache coming on," Jack muttered. "We're trapped in a giant playpen. Oh, God. I so do _not _look forward to writing this report when we get back home."

"Is there a way we can convince them that we're adults?" Sam asked, startling all of them.

"Done with your bath?" Jack asked, staring at the bundle of towels that was Sam Carter. She had one towel wrapped around her body, another draped over her shoulders, and a third wrapped turban-style around her hair. How she'd managed to drape all those enormous towels about herself and still walk unimpeded was to forever remain a mystery to the three men.

"Yes, it was quite lovely, thank you," she said calmly, heading toward the cupboard. "I heard you guys saying that there were fresh clothes out here, so I came to get some. I'll be right back."

With that, she went back into the bathroom to change and rejoined them only minutes later, looking much happier. "Bathroom's free."

"Daniel, then Teal'c, go get cleaned up," Jack said. "I'll bring Carter up to speed."

It didn't take long for Jack to tell Sam everything that they'd figured out, and all four of them gathered at the table to do a re-hash.

"Daniel, do you think we can tell them that we're not what they think we are?" Sam asked.

"It's possible," Daniel said thoughtfully. "Maybe if I have the word or phrase for 'adult' or something similar I could tell them, but whether they understand it or not..." His voice trailed off and he shrugged.

"Let's hope they do," Jack said, packing the toys back into the box. He'd just finished when they heard footsteps. "Sounds like breakfast's on its way."

Ebbas, Lralda, Shansarra, and Banhana walked through the door then, carting containers of food. Daniel jumped in, greeting each of them and rattling off his entire Avwand vocabulary. Ebbas and his friends gave their grimace smiles as they set out the morning meal and gabbled and chattered back at Daniel, apparently congratulating him on a job well done. They were in the middle of eating when Daniel grabbed up his whiteboard and stylus and wrote what he wanted to say.

"Daniel, what did you tell them?" Jack asked, seeing the Avwand looking at the board.

"Basically, I told them I want to talk."

"It looks as if they are listening," Teal'c said.

Shansarra reached for Daniel's board, took it, and set it aside. "No."

They all understood that. "Why?" Daniel asked in Avwand.

Shansarra gabbled something.

"Translation, please?" Sam said.

"Broadly translated, it would mean something like 'no toys at the table,' I guess," Daniel muttered, deciding to try another tactic. He pointed to Ebbas and said, "Ebbas. Avwand."

Ebbas grimace-smiled and nodded. "Yes. Ebbas. Avwand."

Daniel pointed to himself. "Daniel. Human."

Ebbas nodded. "Daniel. Human. Dhanha-amti."

Daniel shook his head. "Daniel. Human. Eth Dhanha-amti."

All of SG-1 knew that _eth_ meant 'no' or 'not.' He was saying that they were not 'little ones.'

Ebbas tilted his head to one side and appeared to think about this.

"Is he buying it?" Sam asked.

"I hope so."

Ebbas pointed to Daniel. "Dhanha-amti."

"Eth," Daniel insisted. "Eth Dhanha-amti. Adults. Eth Dhanha-amti."

Now all of the Avwand were watching and listening. The food lay on their plates, forgotten.

"Think they're thinking what we want them to think?" Jack wondered.

The Avwand were all quiet, and more than one of them looked confused. A moment later and they were all gabbling to one another, their tones very perplexed.

"I don't think we've accomplished anything but confusing them," Daniel muttered, thinking hard. "Okay, let's try this another way." He got down from his chair and caught their attention. Immediately the gabble cut off and they watched him.

"Dhanha-amti," Daniel said, crouching on the floor, trying to make himself as small as possible. "Adult Human," he said, standing up straight. "Dhanha-amti, Adult Human. Dhanha-amti, Adult Human." With each 'Dhanha-amti' he crouched down and then stood up each time he said 'Adult Human.'

Something changed in Shansarra's face and Daniel looked closely at him. _Was that a glimmer of understanding?_ Daniel thought as Shansarra started gabbling to his friends. At last, Ebbas turned to Daniel. "Eth Dhanha-amti. Dhanha-ahvti."

"I hope that's their word for 'adult,'" Sam said, hearing the change in the familiar phrase.

"It's something different, at least," Daniel conceded.

"Dannel," Banhana said, waving him back towards his seat. "Irlid."

"Irlid? Sleep?" Jack said, trying to remember the meaning.

"Eat," Daniel corrected as he retook his seat.

"Eeeat!" Ebbas said happily. "Irlid!"

"Oy."

"Oyoyoy!"

--

Their elevation to the status of "Dhanha-ahvti" didn't mean that they would be allowed out, however. They found this out directly after breakfast when they repeated their request to leave their room.

"It's very tempting to have a tantrum right now, but that would just convince them again that we're kids, and we just convinced them that we're not," Jack grumbled after being denied his request. "I don't believe this."

Language lessons increased and pretty soon all of them were conversing in short sentences with their hosts. They managed to discuss the differences apparent in Sam, and the terms "male" and "female" became clear. When asked, Ebbas said that Banhana and Lralda were female, and he and Shansarra were male.

"Daniel, do you see anything in any of them that tells which is which?" Jack wanted to know.

"Um, no," Daniel admitted. "Then again, it's possible that their race doesn't show sexual characteristics. The Asgard are like that."

"Well, the Asgard have masculine and feminine voices," Jack reminded him. "These guys' voices are a lot alike."

More talking and learning went on that morning, and by lunch time the humans were more than ready to have a break.

"We didn't even move at this pace when I did a language immersion course!" Daniel complained. "This isn't immersion; this is force-feeding."

"They're...pretty eager to communicate with us," Sam said.

"After today, I will probably never want to say anything to any of them ever again," Jack said firmly. "This is ridiculous."

"Indeed, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "I believe I share your sentiments."

Today it was Ebbas who brought lunch and all of them were more than happy to take a break over a meal.

"Ooh, they have something new," Sam said, examining what was on her plate. She took a bite and smiled. "Oh, you guys'll like this."

"Can't wait," Jack said, still sounding miffed.

Daniel dug into the new food and smiled at the taste. "Cool. This kinda tastes like..." He stopped and cleared his throat. "It tastes like..." He stopped again, this time rubbing at his throat.

"Daniel?" Jack said, noticing Daniel's concerned expression. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Daniel rasped, rubbing at his throat. A second later he was coughing.

"Could you have had something you were allergic to?" Sam asked, getting to her feet as Daniel started to wheeze.

"How could he know that?" Jack demanded, getting up as well.

The Avwand were watching and it was clear from their expressions that they were wondering just what was going on. By that point, Sam was at Daniel's side, trying to look down his throat.

"Damn!" she said, fighting panic. "The airway's swelling!"

"What should we do?" Teal'c asked, joining his friends.

"We need one of the epinephrine shots from our first aid kit!" Sam said, supporting Daniel as the sound of his breathing became painful. "Hey! Ebbas, we need our stuff!"

Teal'c phrased the request in Avwand but all they received in return was a blank look. Shansarra, however, got to his feet saying something that seemed to make sense to his friends, because they all got up and looked closely at Daniel. A minute later Shansarra had scooped Daniel up from his chair and headed for the door, his compatriots close behind.

Teal'c moved so fast that neither Jack nor Sam saw him until he was standing in the doorway, holding the door open with his hands. "Go!" Once they had scrambled through Teal'c allowed the door to close, all three of them outside their room for the first time since entering it.

"Which way?" Sam asked.

"This way," Teal'c answered. "They were running, so we will have to move fast."

They set off in a sprint in order to catch up to the Avwand, encountering only two Avwand they didn't recognize in the hallways. Both Avwand stared at them, but neither one tried to stop them.

Jack caught sight of Ebbas up ahead. "There they are," he said quietly, unwilling to draw attention.

SG-1 followed the Avwand into room crowded with people and beds.

"An infirmary?" Sam guessed, seeing all the hustle and bustle.

"Hope it is," Jack replied.

Ebbas shouted something, and an Avwand broke away from his group and hurried to Shansarra, who was still holding Daniel. The new Avwand--was he a doctor?--barked orders and Daniel was settled on a bed. He was still wheezing and from what Jack could see, his face was turning an unhealthy shade of purple. Why weren't the Avwand _doing_ anything to help him? He was about to rush forward and start issuing some orders of his own, but Teal'c's hand came down on his shoulder. "What?"

"Wait," Teal'c suggested, still watching what was going on.

Just as Teal'c was telling him to wait, another Avwand arrived with a device in his hand and pushed up the sleeve of Daniel's shirt. He pressed the device to the inside of Daniel's arm while the first Avwand doctor placed a clear mask over Daniel's face. His friends watched as the frightening purple color faded from his face and his breathing eased.

"Thank God," Jack said, feeling his knees go the slightest bit wobbly. How many of Daniel's close calls could a man be expected to survive?

"Ditto, sir," Sam said, leaning against the wall.

"It appears that Daniel Jackson will be around a while longer, O'Neill," Teal'c said, smiling.

"And that means more gray hair in the future." Jack had to sit down. "You know, I didn't start to go gray until after I met him. There has to be a correlation, there."

During this exchange SG-1 watched while Daniel was taken off to the side and settled in a large bed with raised sides. It looked like he was being put to bed in a huge box.

"Oh, let me out of here," they heard Daniel say as the Avwand doctors put him down. "I'm fine."

Jack's hand signals told them exactly what to do. They ran over to Daniel's bed, human-laddered their way up into it, and joined their friend. Jack caught a look at Ebbas' face and it said clearly, _Now, where did they come from?_

"Hi, Ebbas," Jack said lightly. "Don't try anything stupid like trying to make us go back to our room. We're here to keep Danny-boy company, all right?"

Even though there was a language barrier, it appeared that Ebbas understood.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Avwand were not happy that their charges had managed to leave their room. At first, they tried to insist that Teal'c, Jack, and Sam all return to their room while Daniel stayed in the infirmary, but Daniel's reaction to that suggestion quickly changed their minds. That, and what he said to them ensured that they would be allowed to stay with him.

"What did you say?" Jack asked as Ebbas & Co. left them in Daniel's bed to go talk to his doctor.

"I simply told him that I didn't want to be without my friends," Daniel said happily, flopping into the pillows behind him. "I'm bushed. Can allergic reactions like this tire you out?"

"It may have taken a toll on your body," Sam said, thinking of her field medicine training. "They may be keeping you here so you can rest or because they want to keep an eye on you to make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine," Daniel assured her. "Just tired."

"I'm not surprised, Danny-boy. With all the extra translating you've been doing you _have_ to be tired. Close those over-worked peepers of yours and get some shut-eye," Jack ordered.

"Wouldn't that be 'shut-peeper'?" Daniel wanted to know.

"Smart-aleck."

"I try." Daniel didn't say anything else as he settled under the blanket and closed his eyes. The rest of his team stayed quiet until they were certain he had dropped off to sleep.

"Pow-wow," Jack said softly, moving to the foot of the bed. "What do you guys think? Think our being out of our room and showing them we can handle it will mean they'll give up on this ridiculous 'outside is bad' thing they've got?"

"I hope so," Sam said fervently. "I was starting to go a little stir-crazy."

"Indeed," Teal'c said, leaving his friends to marvel once again at how much meaning a single word could convey. They could tell he was as heartily sick of being cooped up as they were, and he didn't even have to tell them that!

"Sir, do you think they'll allow us anywhere near this ship's bridge?"

Jack grinned. "Are you planning a takeover, Carter?"

"Not exactly, sir," she said. "I think that if I had a look at the ship's bridge and the type of propulsion they're using, then Daniel and I can put our heads together and figure out a possible point of origin that we can use to get home if they stop the ship."

Jack looked at her, not understanding. "How's that?"

"Well, if we can tell how far we've come, which direction we've traveled and other variables like that, then we could probably guess where we are and determine a point of origin. Then, we can test that point on the Gate by checking to see if it works. If it does, then we can gate to an ally planet or the Alpha site and then get home."

"I love having geniuses on the team," Jack said, grinning. "Carter, remind me to buy you a beer when we get home."

"Perhaps a six-pack would be more appropriate, O'Neill," Teal'c said, also smiling.

"Well, I haven't done it yet," Sam pointed out to them. "But thanks. Once Daniel's back on his feet we can work on this _if_ they let us in the bridge long enough to get the figures we need. All this could be speculation, though."

"You mean you are not certain if you will be able to understand the bridge's meters and other instruments in order for you to obtain the data you need," Teal'c said after a moment. "I have confidence in your and Daniel Jackson's abilities, Major Carter."

"Thanks, Teal'c," Sam said, suppressing a pleased smile. "I guess the whole plan hinges on whether or not we get into the bridge."

"I'll smooth-talk them," Jack promised. "Don't worry; you'll get into the bridge if I have anything to say about it." Although how he was going to deliver on that promise was still in the planning stages, Jack knew he had to make that happen for them.

"Thanks, sir."

"No problem," Jack said, looking over at the sleeping form of his team's linguist. "Guys, what say we make like Danny-boy there and take advantage of this very comfortable football field the Avwand call a bed? After all the freaking out I've done today, I need a quick snooze."

"I am fine, O'Neill, but I shall be happy to keep watch," Teal'c said, settling onto the mattress cross-legged.

"Thanks, Teal'c. If you get tired, wake one of us."

"I'm thinking that there's a slight increase in gravity on this ship that might have something to do with the way we're all so tired after being up a few hours," Sam said thoughtfully as she chose a spot to curl up. "Have you guys noticed?"

"Being tired? Yeah," Jack said, finding a place to lean back against the elevated side of the bed. "There's a difference in the gravity here that our bodies are having a hard time handling?"

"Our bodies could be adjusting to it," Sam answered. "Still, that's not always the easiest thing to do, so we could be experiencing fatigue because of it."

"Makes sense," Jack said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. He could remember experiencing three and four G's during his career and enough time spent under a different gravity could be tiring. A while spent under a slight increase in gravity could probably have the same effect. Once they had the words for it, they'd have to ask the Avwand.

--

Waking up to see an elongated parody of a human staring at you was the most effective eye-opener Daniel had ever discovered since coffee. One moment he was blinking sleepily at the ceiling and the next Ebbas was staring down at him.

"Hello, Ebbas," Daniel said in their language, sitting up.

"Hello," Ebbas answered. "Sleep well?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Good Dhanha-ahvti," Ebbas said, reaching out to pick him up.

Daniel couldn't evade his hands and he started protesting as he was lifted up and held. His protests woke his friends up.

"Hey!" Jack said, hurrying to the edge of the bed. "What do you think you're doing?"

Ebbas showed them by the simple expedient of carrying Daniel over to the exam table he'd been examined on earlier. They saw his doctor arrive and greet Ebbas before greeting Daniel.

"Daniel?" Jack called, nervous.

"I think it's a check-up," Daniel said to reassure Jack.

Daniel's words proved true. They looked at his throat, listened to his heart and chest, checked a few other things, and gave him the all-clear, much to Jack's relief. Daniel was returned to his bed and Ebbas left to take care of something else. While he was gone the doctor and some of the orderlies saw to it that all four of them had a chance to use the nearby facilities, wash, change into fresh clothes, and have breakfast. Once they were finished eating they were put back on Daniel's bed, presumably to wait for their handlers to return.

"How long do you think they'll keep you here?" Jack asked.

"No clue," Daniel admitted. "I just hope they don't try to confine us again."

"If they do, they'll have me to deal with," Jack muttered. "They don't want me around when I'm ticked."

Sam was about to say something when Ebbas & Co. showed up, each of them picking up a human and then lowering them to the floor.

"Hi," Jack said, looking up at Shansarra. "What do you guys want?"

"Come," Shansarra said, motioning with his hands.

None of them moved.

"Come," Ebbas said, using the same motion Shansarra had.

"Um....eth," Daniel said.

This surprised all of the Avwand, who stared at them.

"Go where?" Daniel asked in Avwand.

"A place," Ebbas said. "A good place."

"Our room?" Sam asked.

"No," Lralda assured them. "A different place."

All of SG-1 looked at each other, uncertain.

"Maybe we should vote," Daniel suggested.

"I vote we go," Sam said. "If it's a different place..." She paused. "We'll be able to see more of the ship and hopefully we might see something useful."

"My vote's with Carter," Jack said after a few seconds. "We need to learn the layout of this place and track down the bridge."

Teal'c nodded.

"I guess we have a unanimous vote," Daniel sighed. "Let's go."

Now it was the turn of the Avwand to look at each other, but they led the humans out of the infirmary and through the hallways without comment. Daniel asked questions as they moved through the halls and filed away the Avwands' answers for later in his memory. Mostly, he asked about the rooms. Which room was this? Which room is that? What's here?

"What we wish to show you," Bhanhana said in answer to Daniel's question as they entered another room.

Daniel looked around and Jack whistled. "Nice, big room."

"Ooh, what are these?" Sam asked, scooting over to what looked like computer consoles. She screeched to a halt an inch away from the nearest and reached out a hand.

"Eth!"

Sam whipped around at Ebbas' shout. "What? I wasn't going to do anything."

Ebbas gabbled off something too quickly for Sam to follow. She gave him a confused look.

"Ah, he's saying that you shouldn't touch that," Daniel translated. "Something about 'hurt.' I can't tell if he means it'll hurt you or you'll hurt it. God, this language is a pain."

Sam blinked in surprise. When Daniel complained about a language, that meant he was very frustrated at his inability to communicate, which meant that it would be that much harder for all of them. Still, she had to do what she could to make his job easier, and that meant cooperating when she could. "Okay. I won't touch it, then," she said, moving back to stand beside her friends. Was it her imagination, or did Ebbas breathe a sigh of relief?

"Good," he said. "Good Dhanha-ahvti. Come. This way."

The Avwand led them to the left, which was an area set up with furniture made for humans. There were large cushions for them to sit on, a table and chairs, an enormous whiteboard with several styluses, shelves full of items for them to examine, and a door to the right which led to a necessary.

"For you," Bhanhana said happily. "A good place."

"Just like our room, but there're no beds," Jack said, looking around. "Why the heck did they bring us here?"

Teal'c had moved around behind the whiteboard stand. "O'Neill. There is a window."

"Yes," Jack said as he and the others joined Teal'c. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

Outside there was very little but the signs of the ship traveling in hyperdrive.

"Joy," Jack muttered as the pulled back from the window. "Can't say I expected anything else, but I was kind of hoping, you know?"

"I know what you mean, sir," Sam commiserated as they walked back toward the Avwand. "I wonder how long--"

_Bang!_

"Daniel, you okay?" Jack demanded as he hurried to his friend's side. "What'd you run into?"

Daniel lay full out on the floor, rubbing his forehead and wincing. "I don't know. I didn't see what I hit. What _did_ I hit?"

Sam looked. "Uh, you hit nothing. I mean, there's nothing there for you to hit."

Jack looked around with misgivings. "Uh-oh. Hold on." He stood up, held out his hands, and walked forward. Within two steps his hands came up against a barrier. First he pushed against it, leaned against it, and then pounded on it. Only pounding on it produced any sound, which were muted thumps. "What's the deal?" he demanded of the Avwand, who were all on the other side. "What's the deal with confining us like this?"

"One step forward, two steps back," Teal'c said flatly.

Ebbas said something that Jack didn't understand. "What?"

"He said that this space is for us," Daniel said, sitting up slowly, still rubbing his head. "Um, something about they have some tasks they need to perform, they don't want to leave us by ourselves, and it wouldn't be all right for us to wander around on our own."

"Oh, you've got to be--" Jack said, fighting down an urge to throttle some tall, gangly aliens. "So we're stuck in a frickin'...room...space...playpen... like a bunch of _kids_?"

"Looks like it," Daniel said, getting to his feet. "I don't think they understood my explanation of how we weren't 'Dhanha-ahmti.'"

"Well, then what the heck is 'Dhanha-ahvti,' then?" Jack complained. "Ebbas, we want out of here right now, got me?"

Daniel translated what Jack was saying, and Ebbas shook his head.

"Dhanha-ahvti stay here," he said. "This place is comfortable. We will bring food and drink when it is time, and we will let you out later when we are finished with our work."

"We want out now," Jack pointed out, keeping Daniel busy with translating. "We don't want to stay in here."

Shansarra looked thoughtful. "Would you like to go back to your room?"

Only Daniel understood him. "What'd he say?" Jack asked.

"He wants to know if we want to go back to our room."

Jack shook his head angrily. "No. We want out."

"Gabble gabble," Lralda said. "Gabble gabble gabble."

"What?" Sam said.

"I'm starting to hate this language," Daniel told them, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows with one finger. "She said that we have a choice between this room or our quarters. If we don't like this place, we can choose to go back to our room."

"They're consistently failing to grasp the point," Jack said. "We don't like being confined and I know you've told them this before. Do they _understand_ that?"

Daniel started gabbling and Jack was more than gratified to see them all paying close attention to him. Five minutes later he finished and the Avwand began talking amongst themselves. Another five minutes and Ebbas started talking to Daniel.

"Yes, they understand," he said. "They still feel that it would be best for us if we remain here behind the barrier. They said that they've provided things for us to occupy ourselves with and if we need or want anything we only need to ask. However, they aren't going to let us out."

"Rat bastard," Jack snarled. He kept cursing as he paced back and forth, trying to work off his frustration.

"What is he saying?" Ebbas asked, confused at what he was hearing.

"You don't want to know," Daniel told him, taking a cautious step back. "You really don't."

"He is angry," Lralda said, looking concerned.

"Ya think?" Daniel said, feeling more than a little angry.

Sam tried to stop it, but a little giggle escaped anyway. Teal'c chuckled, and then Jack couldn't keep quiet. He threw his head back and laughed, collapsing onto one of the cushions.

"Oh, I can't stand it!" he howled. "Danny-boy, you sounded just like me!"

Now it was Daniel's turn to laugh. Jack was laughing so hard he was bent in two, his face red from lack of air. He looked like he'd gotten stuck in that position.

"Okay, okay, it was funny," Daniel said at last while his friends caught their breath from their laughing fit. "Breathe, will you?"

"Trying," Jack croaked, still laughing. "Oh, what I would have given for a camera then! No one back at the base would believe it!"

"Are you all right?" Ebbas asked, beginning to look worried.

Daniel nodded. "We're fine. Are you sure you won't take down the barrier?"

"It is better for it to be up for right now," Ebbas said. "You see, people will be coming in and out while we are working. You are small. You could be hurt."

Daniel thought about Ebbas' words and grasped his meaning. "You put us in here to keep us from being hurt."

Ebbas nodded and gave his grimace-smile. "Yes."

"Care to share?" Sam asked after a minute.

"Sure," Daniel said, sitting down on a cushion. It didn't take him long to explain and all of his friends looked very thoughtful.

"I don't see anyone running in and out," Jack said after a second.

"I think they're serious," Daniel said. "I don't think they'd lie."

"All right," Jack said as Sam flopped onto a cushion next to Teal'c. "So, what do you guys want to do?"

They didn't have long to wait before the first of their handlers' visitors arrived. All of the visitors stared at the humans and several of them walked up to the barrier to get a closer look. More than one of them got a huge shock as Daniel greeted them in their own language and one person actually scrambled back, causing them no end of amusement. Once each visitor was done staring, he or she would confer with Ebbas & Co., hand them small whiteboards covered with writing, and then go. Sometimes Ebbas & Co. had something to give back to them, sometimes not.

"I wonder what all this work is they're doing," Jack said after a while. They'd occupied themselves for a while with watching the visitors and now Daniel had pulled out a book and was reading it to them.

Daniel looked up from the book and glanced over, looking at the whiteboards. "Um...Hmm. I can't get a good look, but what I do see makes me think that they're working on something to do with us."

Jack looked at him. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me, our names were on that last whiteboard and the Avwand write pretty big," Daniel assured him. "I can at least read our names at written in that size of letters with no problems. It looked like they were giving that person a report on us."

"Can you tell what kind of report it was?" Sam asked curiously. "General? Scientific? Social?"

"I have no idea," Daniel said, shrugging. "I didn't get that close a look."

"Perhaps if you asked to see them," Teal'c said thoughtfully. "The Avwand seem to like you, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel grimaced. "And don't think that doesn't worry me," he said. "I mean, sometimes I look up from what I'm doing and they're staring at me. It's very uncomfortable."

"It's probably because you're the one who speaks the language best," Sam suggested. "It's always nice to see someone you're teaching catch on to what you want them to learn. Maybe they're watching to see what you'll learn next."

"We're all learning," Daniel pointed out. "You'd think they'd watch you guys as much as they watch me."

They went back to their book then, with Daniel translating it as he read. It was a story narrating the history of the Avwand, which all of them figured it was good to know. They were about a quarter of the way through it when Daniel paused and read something over.

"Something wrong?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I don't quite understand this phrase," Daniel said. "It doesn't make sense. Might be a figure of speech. Think they'll answer me if I ask them what it means?"

"They had better," Teal'c said. "I wish to know what happens next."

Daniel laughed and took the book over to the barrier and tapped on it. "Hey! Ebbas!"

All four of Ebbas & Co. looked up and Ebbas got to his feet and went over to Daniel.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

Daniel pointed out the passage in the book. "What is the meaning here?"

The rest of SG-1 listened while Ebbas gabbled away to Daniel for the next few minutes.

"So, what'd he say?" Jack asked as Daniel rejoined them.

"I didn't really understand, but it's something about a decision," Daniel admitted. "Something big happened and the Avwand were forced to make a decision, and the impression I got was that that decision changed the course of their history."

"Cool," Jack said. "So, what happens next?"

Daniel didn't read for too much longer because lunch came for them, and they were all hungry. The Avwand passed them their lunches through the barrier (Sam suspected that it was set up so that things could pass through; they could go in but not out) and chatted with them while they ate. After they were finished eating all of them felt more than ready for a nap.

"Carter, do you think these guys might be slipping something into our food?" Jack asked.

"Either that, or we're more tired than we realized," she said.

Jack muttered something, but none of SG-1 heard it. They were all asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Daniel woke up, blinking sleepily, surprised to find himself on a cushion instead of in his bed. Had he fallen asleep somewhere? Slowly, he sat up and pushed away the soft, fluffy throw that had been placed over him and got to his feet. He was still in what Jack had called the "playpen" and he felt relief course through him when he saw his friends curled up on nearby pillows. They were all still together. Part of him had been worried that the Avwand would try to separate them for any number of reasons, so it was always reassuring to wake up and see they were still nearby.

"Hello, Daniel," Ebbas said, approaching the barrier from the cluster of workstations. "Did you have a good rest?"

Daniel looked up at him and considered not answering, but then again, what purpose would stubborn silence serve? "Yes, I think. Why do we keep falling asleep?" He had a slight suspicion that all this sleeping they were doing wasn't normal and that the Avwand might have something to do with it.

To Daniel's considerable surprise, Ebbas looked worried. "We don't know. Am I right in thinking that this amount of sleeping is not normal?"

Daniel stared at him. How could they not have noticed that they fell asleep at the drop of a hat? Then again, for the Avwand, the humans were an alien species. How would they know what was normal and what was not for them? "No, it isn't," Daniel assured him. "It is starting to worry me."

Ebbas looked confused. "Say again?"

_God, this language is a huge, huge pain,_ Daniel thought as he struggled with syntax and intonation. After a moment or two of thinking he managed to put together what would have been _Normal not not._ _Me-begin—worry--this-is—be—me-begin._ Gibberish at best, but for some mysterious reason, it made perfect sense to Ebbas and he nodded.

"I am beginning to think that we need to have the doctor take a close look at all of you," Ebbas said after a moment of thinking. "If this isn't normal, then it could become a big problem."

"What could the doctor do?" Daniel wanted to know.

"You may be missing a vital nutrient in your food, or the atmospheric mix or the gravity level may not be right for you, so your bodies could be making you rest more in order to compensate," Ebbas explained. "The doctor can tell you if this is so."

Daniel nodded and felt his stomach growl. He hadn't realized how hungry he was. "Ebbas, is there anything to eat?"

"Shansarra is getting you all a meal," Ebbas promised him. "It is almost time for your dinner."

"Dinner sounds good," Daniel heard Jack say from the pile of cushions his friends were still sacked-out on. "I may not know this language, but I can always understand 'dinner.'"

"Welcome back to the living, Jack," Daniel said, fighting down a chuckle.

Jack sat up, his hair a total mess and all over the place. "That remains to be seen," Jack said. "I don't feel alive."

"Maybe you'll feel better after you eat," Daniel said. "Do you think Sam and Teal'c will wake up?"

Teal'c woke up when Jack touched his shoulder, but it took Daniel about a minute of shaking her to get Sam awake and talking.

"Man, I feel like I'm waking up from a stint in the infirmary," she muttered, getting to her feet. "One with lots of cold medicine and sleeping pills."

"Ebbas thinks there may be something making us tired," Daniel told her. "Something missing in our food or differences in the air or the gravity."

"Yeah, I think there's something wrong with our food, too," Jack said, his tone implying something else entirely.

"We don't know that for sure, Jack," Daniel reminded him.

"We don't know for sure if the case is otherwise, Daniel," Jack countermanded.

"I think they're picking up that you guys are arguing about something," Sam said, looking at the Avwand.

Sure enough, every Avwand in the room was watching their little verbal sparring match with worried expressions.

"It's all right," Daniel hurried to reassure them. "Jack's still tired."

Jack gave a chuckle, pasted a smile on his face and said pleasantly, "Jack's this close to whacking an archeologist upside the head for putting words in his mouth."

"I'm just trying to let them know that everything is okay," Daniel said through his own smile. "If they thought we were fighting that could cause difficulties later."

"What kind of difficulties?" Jack demanded.

"They might decide that we're dangerous for each other and separate us," Daniel offered. "They might feel we need to be punished or confined even more if we start to fight with one another. I don't know. I can't predict what they're going to do since their nonverbal cues are so different from ours."

"Well, observe them some more," Jack snapped.

"Okay, you two," Sam said just as Shansarra arrived. "Bury the hatchet now and then you can resurrect it later. Time to eat."

The Avwand seemed to understand their charges pretty well since a generous meal was served up and they were encouraged to have what they liked, but Daniel noticed that the Avwand were still watching them as if they were afraid that the humans might actually swing on each other.

"Do they think this hypothetical missing substance in our food could be what's making us so hungry?" Sam asked as she took thirds of her favorites.

Daniel relayed the question, listened while the Avwand discussed it, and relayed the answer. "They say it's possible."

"Joy," Sam muttered, taking a sip of water. "I hope that whatever's wrong, they figure it out soon. I don't want to be grazing twenty-four/seven."

"With food this good, I wouldn't mind," Jack said lightly, his earlier annoyance almost forgotten.

"I concur," Teal'c said, taking a bite of something. "It is most satisfying."

"Yeah, well, I can only swallow so much before there's trouble."

"Like what happened on P6X-881?"

Sam glared at her commanding officer. "I thought we were not going to mention that."

"Just teasing, Carter."

"Sure." She was still scowling.

Daniel looked at Sam, wondering just why she was in a bad mood all of a sudden. Jack was pretty irritated, too. "Sam, is it possible that a lack of needed nutrients can make people irritable?"

Sam looked even more annoyed, but her expression cleared as she thought about Daniel's words. "I think so. If you're hungry, you're more prone to irritation and being annoyed, so it makes sense."

Once again Daniel blessed that Sam had had field medicine training.

"Pax?" Jack asked, holding his hand out to Sam.

"Pax," she said, taking it and giving it a shake. "Sorry, sir."

"Me, too."

Shortly after that all of them finished eating and Ebbas walked up to the barrier, put his hands on it, and Daniel felt the area around him open up. Jack put out a hand, swiped it back and forth to make sure the barrier was gone and once it became clear that it was really gone, Jack shot out of the "playpen" so fast that he startled Ebbas.

"I was not going to put the barrier back up," Ebbas said, fighting down a smile.

Daniel translated for Jack and Jack sighed. "Daniel, I know you've tried before but if it is at all possible today, could you make clear to them that confinement is not a good thing for us?"

"I can try," Daniel said. "I can't promise anything, though. I think they still think we're children despite our little demonstration and vocabulary increases."

"Just do your best."

Daniel could tell that Jack was still struggling to keep himself calm and not snap and he appreciated it. "Sure thing."

"Come with us," Bhanhana said, leading the way to the door.

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked as Ebbas and his friends began to herd them toward the door.

"We need to have the doctor take a look at you," Ebbas told him. "We need to find out what's wrong and how to make you better so you're not so tired all the time."

Daniel translated and Jack stopped in his tracks. "Oh, no. Not the infirmary."

"O'Neill, the one examining you will not be Dr. Frasier," Teal'c reminded him.

"Still, it's an infirmary," Jack said firmly. "I hate going to those places. Forget it!"

Shansarra said something that he had trouble grasping and he turned to Daniel. "Did you catch what he said?"

"Um, he said that you can walk or he can carry you, but either way you're going to the infirmary."

"Oh, that's so eth," Jack said, using the Avwand word for "no."

Daniel sneaked a glance at Shansarra. "I think he's serious, Jack."

"Well, so am I," Jack said firmly. "Eth. Got that?" he said, turning to Shansarra. "Eth!"

Was it Daniel's imagination, or did Shansarra look like he was losing his patience? "Um, Jack..."

"Any other time you'd gripe for a few seconds and then go anyway," Sam snapped. "Get a grip, sir. You're like this because something isn't right. Now, the Avwand are willing to try putting it right, but we have to go to the infirmary for that to happen."

Shansarra gabbled something, but only Daniel understood it. "Shansarra just apologized for being so...I guess the word could be called imperious. He's worried about what will happen if we don't solve this problem soon, so he wants to get us to the infirmary as soon as possible. He says he should have realized that you would hear it as an order, rather than a suggestion."

Jack looked mollified. "Oh. Okay. Thanks, Shansarra. All righty, campers. Let's go."

Aside from being stared at by everyone who passed them, the walk to the infirmary was uneventful. The same doctor met them at the door and ushered them to the exam area while Ebbas explained what the problem was. While the doctor and Ebbas talked, Daniel translated for the rest of the team.

"The doctor thinks it's most likely something we're not getting in our food," he told them. "Still, he doesn't want to jump to conclusions and be wrong later."

"And that means...?" Sam encouraged.

Daniel listened a moment more. "I think that means lots of tests."

"Aw, hell," Jack muttered.

"Will their medical tests even be successful on us?" Teal'c asked.

"Well, that treatment they used on me for that allergic reaction worked just fine," Daniel remembered. "It's possible that whatever else they plan to do will work, too."

"I hope so," Sam said.

Five minutes later all of them were settled on the tall beds. Two minutes more and they had a nurse on one side of them, taking their vitals and jotting things down on whiteboards. That took a terribly long time and by the time the nurses were finished all of them had made themselves comfortable in the plentitude of pillows and blankets on their beds. By the time the nurses presented their findings to the doctor and Ebbas & Co. all of the Tau'ri were curled up and more than ready for a nap.

"Daniel, what are they saying?" Jack asked, his attention drawn by the pow-wow going on.

Daniel forced himself to sit up and listen. "I think they're saying our vitals are done. They're saying that they're going to do the tests now and they also need to look at our blood, I think."

"Oy," Jack muttered. He didn't want to see what a blood-draw kit looked like here. Ten to one they used needles the size of daggers. "What conclusions have they drawn so far?"

"That's up for debate. It seems everyone has a different theory."

"Fabulous," Sam complained.

What followed were the most thorough medical tests they'd ever received. Nothing hurt, but it was all a bit uncomfortable. Daniel counted three separate times that they had blood taken and finally, at long last, he heard the word "finished." He relayed this information to his friends and Daniel heard Jack breathe a thankful sigh of relief.

"And I thought Janet was thorough," Sam commented as they were all settled back on their beds.

"I agree with you on that," Jack said.

"I agree as well," Teal'c added. "We must make sure that Dr. Frasier never meets the Avwand."

The comment was so appropriate and so unexpected that it reduced all of them to helpless laughter. The Avwand were surprised at the sudden laughter, but Ebbas and his friends reassured the others were less familiar with the humans that everything was all right and the noise they were making was harmless. Worn out from laughing, they managed to fall into a slight doze that ended only when they were shaken awake.

"That has to be the rudest way to wake someone that was ever invented," Jack said as he sat up and stared at Shansarra. "What is it?"

"They're saying that they know what it is," Daniel said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

A pillow went flying and all of them turned to stare at Sam, whose head was buried underneath the pile of pillows.

"Carter?" Jack said. "Carter, they're saying they know what it is."

Daniel heard something issue from underneath the pillows and he blanched. He hadn't known that Sam could speak Goa'uld, much less that she knew those words.

Teal'c developed a sudden fit of coughing.

Jack took in their expressions and realized that she had said something that neither man would ever translate for him, but he tried anyway. "What did she say?"

"You do not wish to know, O'Niell," Teal'c assured him.

"Yeah, just forget you ever heard it."

"I don't even know what I heard!" He was more than a little ticked. "Carter, get up! This is an order!"

She sat up, a pillow falling off of her face and she glared. "So help me, Jack O'Neill, if this isn't important..."

The fact that Sam had forgotten all about military rank and protocol let them all know that she was seriously tired.

"I said that they know what's wrong with us," Jack said patiently.

She stopped and stared at him. "Really?"

Ebbas came over, somehow sensing (or realizing?) that his charges were ready to hear the news. "How are you all feeling?"

"Tired," Daniel said honestly. "I heard the doctor say that he knew what was wrong with us."

Ebbas nodded, once again resembling a bobble-head. "Yes. I have to say, Daniel, I'm impressed. You picked up our language in a small amount of time."

"Ah, thank you," Daniel said. "About what's wrong with us?"

"The doctor said that there are certain nutrients you are missing from your diet and there is an inert gas missing from our air that you are used to having in yours. That is what is making you tired. We can do something about these deficiencies by adding the missing nutrients to your food and by making sure you receive a little of that gas every other day in the air in your quarters."

"Oh, good," Daniel said. "You know, Ebbas, there's something else we have to talk to you about. Why do you insist on confining us? Our people do not do well in confinement."

"You are very small compared to us," Ebbas said without missing a beat. "You could be hurt if you wandered all over the ship. Some areas are not safe for someone of your size."

"What if we promised to stay out of them?" Daniel suggested. "Or if we had an escort? When we have visitors at home we do not insist they stay in one room, but we do ask that they have an escort if they wish to leave their quarters."

Ebbas considered this and Daniel could see the other Avwand thinking about it as well. Such a reaction made him cautiously optimistic about their future freedom. After all, it wasn't as if they wanted full access to every corner of the ship--they just wanted an option that made them feel less claustrophobic. Visiting the common areas of the ship would be great and give them the chance to socialize with other Avwand and learn more about their hosts.

"Ebbas, I think we should discuss such an option with the captain and ship's council," Shansarra said.

Ebbas nodded. "I think you are right. We can promise that we will discuss it, Daniel."

"I'm glad to hear that," Daniel told him sincerely. "Very glad."

"We are glad you felt you could talk to us about this," Ebbas answered. "Now, the doctor is a bit concerned about your condition--it is not dangerous, but he would like to keep you here overnight in order to make sure you are all right. Would you feel comfortable sleeping here?"

Daniel looked over at Sam and grinned. She had sacked out about five minutes before this conversation and looked more than happy to continue sleeping. "I think we'll be all right. We'll see you in the morning?"

"Yes," Ebbas promised. "We will be here in the morning and we'll take you back to your quarters for breakfast."

"Great," Daniel said, settling into the pillows behind him. "Good night, and thank you for explaining things."

Ebbas smiled and for once, it didn't look strange. "Thank you for listening. Sleep well."

Ebbas & Co. withdrew, the lights dimmed in the infirmary, and the staff remaining there went about their tasks quietly. The doctor was at a nearby workstation, examining images on a screen and copying things down on a whiteboard.

"Care to share what just happened?" Jack asked, breaking into Daniel's introspection.

Daniel relayed everything that had been said and clarified what Jack and Teal'c hadn't understood.

"Great job, Danny-boy," Jack said, suddenly in a much better mood. "Think they'll go for it?"

"I hope so," Daniel told him.

"As do I," Teal'c said, dropping into the pillows behind his head. "I feel as if I will sleep very well tonight."

Sam suddenly agreed with a little snore and all three men had to bury their faces in pillows to keep from laughing out loud. Sam wasn't a snorer per se, but occasionally she'd make a sound just like a snore and it was always funny to hear.

"You know what we have to do tomorrow?" Jack asked as Sam rolled over and quieted a little.

"What?" Daniel asked, pulling the blankets up over his chest.

"We have to learn as much as we can about the Avwand. We have to learn about the Avwand, about this ship, where we're going, and if we can use the Gate any time soon. Vacation's over, guys, school's about to start." He looked at Teal'c and Daniel and wondered if they'd heard what he'd said. Both of them were down for the metaphorical count.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ebbas was beginning to wish that his strange charges had not left the infirmary. True to their word, he and his friends showed up the next morning and led Dannel and his friends back to their room for a feast of a breakfast. Once they'd eaten and breathed the new mix of air in their quarters it was like they'd never been sick. The difference was incredible. They had boundless energy and they were asking so many questions that it was difficult for the Avwand to answer them all. Just as suddenly they would stop asking questions to gather together and do a re-hash session of everything they'd learned in their own language.

The only other person who looked as if he wished they were still in the infirmary was Daniel. During their conversations with the humans Daniel would often act as translator for both sides, something which kept him very busy. After lunch he curled up on a cushion, pulled a blanket over his head, and declared he was resting.

"Ebbas, should he still be tired?" Lralda asked, concerned.

"I think that with everything he's done today he deserves a little break," Ebbas answered. "I think he's all right; he's just taking a little time for himself."

A short time later Daniel was up again, talking and answering questions with his friends. He sat with them for several minutes and Ebbas got the feeling that there was some sort of debate going on. Finally, Dannel got up and approached Ebbas. "Ebbas, could we see some more of the ship?"

Ebbas imagined all the new things and places the Dhanha-ahvti would see and fought down a wave of slight panic. If their questions were practically overwhelming now, how many more questions would they ask?

"I will have to make sure if that is all right with the captain and the ship's council," Ebbas answered, playing for time.

"All right," Dannel said. "Can you ask now, or will it not be possible until later?"

Ebbas smiled. "I think I could ask now," he said, amused at how excited Dannel seemed to be. "You really want to wander around the ship, don't you?"

"I've never seen anything like it," Dannel admitted. "We all want to see more."

With the memory of Dannel's excited face following him, Ebbas went to see the captain. The ship's council had already approved of allowing the Dhanha-ahvti to see more of the ship, but the captain had requested that he be informed each time they left their quarters. This first time, Ebbas thought he would notify him personally and make some kind of report while he was at it.

"Hello, Ebbas," the captain said as Ebbas entered the bridge. "How are you and your charges today?"

"Oh, we're all fine," Ebbas told him. "They've requested a bit of a tour around the ship."

The captain looked at him. "Really?"

"Yes, you requested that you be notified," Ebbas reminded him.

"Oh, yes, I did, didn't I?" the captain said quietly. "Ebbas, tell me honestly: What do you make of the four of them?"

"Sometimes I don't know," Ebbas admitted. "According to their appearances, they're younglings. They're not more than children, yet they rarely behave like children."

"Beings from another world who traveled here through the portal," the captain said thoughtfully. "It's amazing, and it's certainly not something I ever expected to have happen in my lifetime! This was just a quiet resupply mission to one of our outposts, and suddenly we have something that none of our people have ever seen before! What does the doctor say?"

"Their DNA has some of the same components ours does, but they are an entirely different species," Ebbas said. "We already knew that. Their dietary and atmospheric deficiencies have been remedied, and you can tell."

The captain looked at him and smiled. "Energetic?"

Ebbas groaned. "I'd hate to think this is their natural state! I'm already exhausted and it hasn't even been a full day yet. Only Dannel's shown any signs of tiring, but that didn't last long at all. A short time on a pillow under a blanket and then he was up, asking to look around the ship."

The captain chuckled. "What else has the doctor said? What about their minds?"

Any human hearing the question wouldn't have understood it or its implied meaning, but Ebbas grasped it at once. "He says that all of them are kindly disposed toward one another. Their feelings toward one another are those of people who have been together for a while and care a great deal for each other. The bonds between them are close and although they do argue sometimes, they are just as quick to make up afterwards. The doctor thinks the caring and love between them and the amount of time they've spent together has built the existing bonds into something familial, but none of them are related to one another."

The captain nodded. "And you, Ebbas," the captain said after a minute or two of thinking about what he'd heard. "What can you tell me as the ship's cultural expert?"

Ebbas gave a self-conscious smile. "I'm not exactly an expert."

"You give yourself too little credit," the captain contradicted gently. "What can you tell me?"

Ebbas thought back to his observations. "They are, all of them, highly intelligent. I think they understand a great deal without its having to be explained to them, although sometimes they insist on explanations. I don't know why."

"Any guesses?"

"Maybe," Ebbas admitted. "It may be that they don't trust us completely just yet either due to fear of the unknown or inborn suspicion, but they may ask for explanations due to a lack of trust on their part. Another reason could be that they're trying to learn all they can about us, so they ask for explanations just for more information. You can almost see them filing away in their minds what they hear."

The captain nodded. "What about their culture? Their society? What have their belongings and actions told you about them?"

"They come from a society that can be either peaceful or violent, but I don't think it's automatically hostile to others. If that were the case, they would have attacked us as soon as they saw us, but instead they sat down and had a meal with us. They will fight to defend themselves; that much I can tell, but beyond that, without seeing more of their people interacting with one another and people very different from them, I can only guess. Their society is literate and technologically sophisticated, but I do not think they are at a level comparable with ours. There are some…discordances…in their society, but I think eventually their people will work things out before any one situation becomes too unbalanced to fix."

The captain looked surprised. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

"Call it a gut feeling," Ebbas offered. "They have weapons that can inflict grievous harm rather than just incapacitate someone, yet you can see that these Dhanha-ahvti relish and enjoy peace. If they were entirely a violent culture, they would spend their time battling one another for recreation, rather than talking or playing games."

"I see your point," the captain said. "Is that why you insisted on taking those weapons of theirs?"

"Yes," Ebbas told him. "What's encouraging is that they also carry weapons that incapacitate, rather than kill, but I think more than one shot from one within a short period of time would kill."

"Stranger and stranger, these Dhanha-ahvti."

"Precisely."

"Well, they want to see around the ship, so you and your team have permission to give them a tour of the main areas if you like. Also, take them to the recreation areas. They might like that."

"It sounds wonderful," Ebbas said gratefully. "Hopefully they'll tire themselves out and they'll stop asking questions."

The captain started laughing. "Oh, go on," he said, waving Ebbas toward the door. "Eventually they'll settle down."

"Oh, I hope so," Ebbas said fervently.

--

Daniel was elated when Ebbas said they could go on a tour of the main areas of the ship. He didn't want to admit it, but being back in a room where he'd lately spent so much time was more than a little depressing. Ebbas, Lralda, Shansarra, and Bhanhana led them out of the door, down the hall, and from there, into the rest of the ship.

Doors and even whole hallways were now in plain sight instead of being hidden. Even better, some of those doors were open! Through them they could see Avwand at work on workstations or sitting around tables, discussing whatever it was they were working on. As they were led through the ship and Ebbas and his friends answered their questions, more than one Avwand would look up from what he or she was doing and wave or say hello. More than once they were invited into such places to look around and then Ebbas and his team got a break from questions since they would start asking them of whoever was there. One room had to do with the maintenance of small devices that most Avwand used in their work (Jack saw some disassembled whiteboards) and the room after that was the ship's exchange. They had a great deal of fun looking around at all the items offered and Sam even saw an Avwand scarf that looked as if it could be a good wrap for her. The next room led to a lab that reminded them all of a hydroponics lab. There were plants growing everywhere and Daniel actually buried his nose in some.

"Mmm," he said, inhaling the scent.

"Daniel, should you do that?" Sam wanted to know. "Your allergies…"

"Don't worry," Daniel said from deep within the flowers. "I asked if they were all right, and he told me that the doctor's made sure none of their plants can harm us. The only ones they don't want us around have their own lab somewhere else."

At that, Sam took her own whiff of the flowers. "Oh, wow. They're great!"

"Just one thing," Jack said, still sounding uncertain. "How do you know you're not allergic to them? I mean, what would an alien flower do to your allergies?"

"Jack, you worry too much," Daniel said lightly. "I think they've already thought of that. They'd be freaking out that I'm doing this, otherwise."

"If you say so."

After that they went to a large gallery that was similar to the one they'd seen when they first came through the Gate.

"Well, now we know what those tables were for," Jack said, seeing several Avwand seated on them.

"It looks like your tables were indeed benches, O'Neill," Teal'c said.

"Looks like it."

The Avwand stared as they entered the room and more than one of them called greetings to Ebbas and his friends as they waved hello. Almost all of them greeted their group as they got closer and spoke to them. All of them were very surprised to hear Daniel speaking their language, but almost immediately they smiled and began to chatter away to him. He was kept busy with talking and translating for the next half-hour. According to what they observed and what Shansarra told them, galleries like that were their common areas, where people could get together and talk.

"I think you'll like this next place," Ebbas said as they left the gallery.

"Why?" Daniel asked. "What is it?"

"This is one of our recreation areas," he said as the door opened in front of them. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

--

Ebbas took a seat against the wall and watched his charges with an indulgent smile. It looked like they were having fun. After they'd had the equipment explained to them they quickly rigged up a game of their own, one where they had to get a ball through a certain target, according to Daniel's explanation. They rigged up targets, discussed rules, and the next thing Ebbas knew, the game was underway.

It was very amusing to watch. The Dhanha-ahvti ran back and forth, bouncing a ball, passing it to one another, and throwing it at the targets. They shouted to one another, teased whoever had the ball, and generally let themselves go.

"I think it was long past time for this," Lralda whispered to him as Daniel threw the ball at one of the targets and got it.

Ebbas nodded. "I think we should let them come to a recreation area every day for a little bit. It'll let them burn off excess energy, don't you think?"

Shansarra chuckled. "And give us a break!"

"Mine!" Jack shouted suddenly startling all of them. He leapt into the air, grabbed the ball, and took off with it for the opposite target.

"HEY!" Daniel yelled, taking off after him.

"I think that will be a good idea," Bhanhana said, watching the ensuing chase as Teal'c and Sam charged past. Sam wove her way through the line of chase, got the ball, and took it back toward the other target, leaving her friends to chase after her.

"Carter!" Jack complained. "That was mine, you know."

She threw the ball at the target, hit it, and grinned. "Yes, sir, but times change."

For the next hour, according to human reckoning, the game went back and forth, greatly amusing the watching Avwand and (hopefully) wearing out the Dhanha-ahvti. Shansarra left at some point and brought back bottles of water, and as the game ended the Dhanha-ahvti wandered over, drawn by the water.

"This was fun!" Daniel declared before taking a drink of water. "Could we do this again soon?"

"Tomorrow, if you like," Ebbas offered.

Jack caught the meaning of his words. "Tomorrow? Awesome! Football tomorrow, guys?"

"Baseball," Teal'c countered. "We do not possess a ball of the proper shape, O'Neill."

"We can improvise," Jack protested.

"You guys can play ball, but I think I'll be investing my time in a very long, very hot bath," Sam said and sighed. "I wish we could go swimming here."

Daniel translated the conversation word for word at Shansarra's request and when he mentioned swimming Ebbas's face lit.

"Swimming?" he said. "We have a place for that, too."

Sam grinned. "Are you serious? Really?"

Daniel was very glad that Ebbas understood what was being said. "Reeeellllleeee," he repeated as best he could.

"Could we go swimming tomorrow?" Sam asked immediately.

Ebbas understood what she was asking, smiled, and impersonated a bobble head.

--

They went back to their quarters for supper and all of them were very surprised at how hungry they were. Daniel commented on it to Bhanhana and she said that it was most likely their bodies wanting more of what had been missing from their diet. After they finished eating and cleaned up from the meal, the Avwand sat down with the humans and taught them an Avwand game, one that was challenging enough to keep them all occupied for a while. The game looked simple at first, consisting of nothing more than passing a ball from person to person, but the order always changed and after the first round more balls were added. Once three or more balls were in play things quickly became difficult. More than once they would mess up, and with mistakes came a lot of confusion and even more amusement.

Shortly after they finished the game the Avwand suggested that they go to bed. There was complaining and grumbling, but Ebbas & Co. noticed that they went without too much protest. That could be a sign that they were more tired than they let on or that they just didn't feel like arguing. Ebbas and his friends left, confident that their charges would sleep through the night and be ready in the morning for another day of learning from one another.

If they'd known what was about to happen, they would have panicked.

--

"Okay, we've been in bed an hour, we're not asleep, and I'm starving," Jack complained. "Daniel, do you see anything that they've left for us to snack on?"

Jack heard Daniel sit up. "No, I don't see anything, Jack. You're hungry?"

"Ravenous," he said, climbing down from the upper bunk. "Anyone else hungry?"

"Yeah," Sam admitted, following her CO.

"As am I," Teal'c confirmed, getting out of bed.

"And I have to say the same," Daniel said, following Teal'c. "Think we're hungry due to whatever was missing from our diet?"

"Whatever it is, I want more of it," Jack complained. "Or at least something to put in my stomach!"

"They should really install an intercom so we can tell them if we need something," Sam said thoughtfully.

"I think they're watching us or listening in or something," Jack said, thinking about how the Avwand just seemed to show up just when they were needed. "Daniel, could you give them a shout-out? Let them know we're hungry?"

Daniel spoke a few words as loudly as he could, but when a half-hour went by and no one came, Jack's impatience took over.

"Okay, looks like they're away from the phone," he said, pacing. "Any thoughts?"

Daniel flopped against the wall. "I wish we could open the--woah!"

"How'd you do that?" Jack demanded, he and the rest of his team following Daniel through the now-open door.

"No idea," Daniel said, carefully getting to his feet. "You'd have better luck asking the door why it chose now to open."

"Who cares?" Sam wanted to know. "We're out! Let's go find food!"

Jack grinned. "I think that idea'll catch on," he said. "Lead the way, Carter."

Lead the way she did, down hallways and past rooms. Very few Avwand were about, but the few they saw said hello and went about their business.

"Wonder why they're not stopping and staring?" Daniel said the third time this happened.

Jack caught a whiff of something and froze, breathing deep. "You guys smell that? It smells like it's coming from over there!"

Two turns in the hall later and they were standing at a big open doorway that led into a huge room filled with tables. Avwand were sitting at these, talking and more importantly, eating. On the right hand wall was a long counter that looked like a buffet.

"Jackpot," Jack breathed. "Think they'll mind if we join the party?"

"Um, I think they know we're here," Daniel said. Sure enough, he was right. The noise level had dropped considerably and more than one of the Avwand were staring at them.

"Spoke too soon on the staring, didn't you, Daniel?" Jack asked.

One Avwand rose and approached them.

"Meet'n'greet, Danny," Jack said, watching him or her approach.

"What are you doing here?" the Avwand asked, looking at all of them.

"We're sorry to interrupt, but we're hungry," Daniel said as clearly as he could, hoping his intonation and syntax were correct. "Is it all right if we get something to eat? Please?"

"Of course," he...she?...said. "Come in."

By this point all of the Avwand were staring at them, but it was not a hostile stare. Instead, SG-1 could tell that they were interested and curious about them. The one who'd greeted them led them to a table (made for Avwand, it was very high), helped them into seats, and then with the help of one other Avwand, began to bring food. In a short time they had a feast in front of them and all the Avwand near their table encouraged them to eat. They were more than happy to dig in and within an hour they felt much better.

"When was the last time we were this hungry?" Jack asked thoughtfully.

"Urgo," Teal'c reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," Jack said, remembering. "All that pie."

Sam caught a word of a nearby conversation. "I think they're talking about us."

That caught everyone's interest, even Teal'c's. "What is it they are saying, Daniel Jackson?"

Daniel listened and then he smiled. "It's pretty amusing. One of them just said something like, 'Should you have given them that much?' and the person who said we could come in said, 'You're supposed to _feed_ younglings; don't you know that?'"

Jack chuckled. "So they still think we're kids, huh?"

Sam looked as if she were thinking very hard. "Actually, I think that could work to our advantage."

All of her teammates turned to stare at her. Daniel said all of their thoughts in one little word. "Huh?"

"Think about it," she said, the look in her eyes bright with intent. "Adults notice kids very little once they're used to them. Kids can go almost anywhere without being noticed, _ask _almost anything without the adults around them thinking twice about their questions...Daniel, didn't you say that their reactions to us remind you of how adult humans on Earth react to kids?"

"Yeah, you're right, they do," Daniel admitted. "I think you're on to something, Sam."

"Do you think they'd show us the bridge if we asked?" Jack wanted to know, looking very excited.

"If we asked in a roundabout way, then maybe," Daniel said, catching their enthusiasm. "Maybe if we asked to see the whole ship...sound really excited that we're on a spaceship...play up how excited we are and how eager we are to see absolutely _everything_..."

"Perhaps we can ask to see how the ship works and thus gain access to engineering and other pertinent areas of the ship," Teal'c added. "All of the Avwand we have met so far are eager to instruct us and care for us, just as they would any child."

"See, this is why I like working with geniuses!" Jack said, barely keeping a rein on his excitement. "Have I told you guys how awesome you are today?"

"Only once, O'Neill," Teal'c told him, making the three Tau'ri laugh.

By this point, there were only a few crumbs left on their plates (every single one of them were amazed that they'd eaten that much) so they began stacking them up in order to clear the table. The Avwand who were nearby took the plates and carried them away, and the one they were beginning to think of as their "commissary handler" brought four dishes over to them that contained dessert. SG-1 was more than eager to dive into it and once dessert was a fond and beloved memory, Daniel began to ask and answer questions. He traded their names for the name of their handler, asked what the commissary was called in their language, and began to ask more questions about the ship and its occupants.

"You're a very inquisitive little Dhanha-ahvti," their handler, Maraba, said. Maraba was female and from what she'd told Daniel, she adored children.

"That's good," Jack said quietly with a grin when Daniel told him what she'd said.

Five minutes later and Daniel turned to his friends and said, "Guys, how would you like a tour of the ship?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7--Encounter

Daniel couldn't believe their luck. They'd gone from kids in a playpen to adults who were mobile. They had a guide who was more than willing to show them around and answer any question. They'd seen the major areas of the ship except for engineering, which she'd said was restricted only to engineering staff. They could accept that: Already Daniel knew that Jack was planning an excursion for Sam into engineering, they just needed the right time to do it. Now they were headed into the bridge, which looked as if it would keep Sam busy for a while.

"And here is the bridge," Maraba said brightly, opening the door for them and leading them inside. "It's big, isn't it?"

"Huge," Daniel said, looking around. "What goes on in here?"

"Mainly operations for the ship," she said as Jack moved over to inspect a chair. She chuckled as he clambered up into it and made himself comfortable with a sigh. "I think you could call the bridge the brain of the ship. Everything that goes on aboard the ship will show up on the instruments here and people here can make decisions on how to remedy any problems."

Sam examined the instruments with a great deal of interest. "Can you work these?"

Maraba looked at Daniel, confused. "What did she say?"

Daniel translated, wishing once again that they all spoke one language.

"I? Oh, no," Maraba said, surprised. "I work in a different capacity than those on the bridge. I work with the people on board, rather than the instruments."

"How?" Daniel asked curiously. "So far we have met doctors and their assistants, Ebbas and his team and people in the labs and recreations. We know what they do, but what is it that you do?"

She thought about it, wondering if they'd understand. "I suppose you could call me a counselor. Do your people have counselors?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, we have. You are a counselor?"

She nodded, echoing his earlier gesture. "Yes. I specialize in dreams and the deep consciousness as well as trauma."

At that point, Daniel caught the signal from Jack that meant _distract her._ Before she could notice anything going on, Daniel began asking her questions. He started with the myriad symbols covering a nearby console, moved on to the symbols flashing on a screen, and then began asking questions about her work. What did it mean that she specialized in dreams and deep consciousness? What was deep consciousness according to the Avwand? Was her additional specialization in trauma helpful in her work? How? What were the most common problems she saw?

"Aw, quit talking her ear off, Danny-boy," Jack said, coming up behind him and laying a hand on his shoulder. "You can talk later."

"If you say so, Jack," Daniel said, looking carefully at Jack. Jack saw the look he was giving him and nodded, meaning, _Later_.

* * *

Ebbas slid to a stop outside the captain's quarters, cursing every star that had been present at his birth and wondering just what he'd done to anger his guardian stars. His team's charges had disappeared, no one knew where they were, no one knew how they'd gotten out, and he was mortally afraid that something would happen or had happened to them. What if they were hurt or sick and no one knew about it? What if they didn't know how to summon help? They could _die_ while people were running about searching for them! Why, oh _why_ hadn't they stayed where they were supposed to stay?

Breathing heavily, Ebbas hit the chime that would alert the captain to his presence. Once the door was open the words started spilling out of him and all of his worries followed. The captain took his shoulders in his hands, told him that everything would be all right, and began to head for the bridge, leaving him to follow.

"You're hungry _again_?" they heard further ahead in the corridor.

"That's Maraba, isn't it?" the captain said, surprised. Usually Maraba was in her quarters by this point, not wandering the ship.

"It is," Ebbas confirmed. "Let's go see who she's talking to."

They turned the corner and found her in the middle of the Dhanha-ahvti.

"Jack says he can't help it," Daniel was saying. "He's hungry."

"Well, maybe—oh, hello, Ebbas. Captain."

Daniel turned. "Hello, Ebbas."

Ebbas was staring at his four charges with mingled relief and fury. He was relieved that they were all right, but he was furious with them for going off like that.

"Remember, they're younglings," the captain whispered to him.

"I know," Ebbas said, fighting down the urge to…well, how _did_ one punish such younglings, anyway? Would they even understand what a punishment was and why they were being punished? "Hello, Daniel. What are all of you doing here?" First, the best thing to do might be to let them explain. Perhaps punishment wasn't warranted in this case.

"We're talking to Maraba. She gave us something to eat."

"I see. She brought it to your quarters?"

"Oh, no. In the dining room."

Ebbas was surprised. They'd found the dining room on their own? "How did you get there?"

Daniel grinned. "We could smell it!"

"How did you leave your quarters? And why?"

"I leaned against the door and it opened," Daniel said simply, shrugging as if he didn't understand the temperament of the technology around him. "We left because we were hungry and no one came when we called. We figured you couldn't hear us."

Ebbas sighed in relief, glad that it was all explained. No, he didn't need to punish his charges. First of all, he remembered that he'd never told them that leaving their room wasn't allowed, and they had called for either him or one of his team before they left to handle the situation. They'd done all they could reasonably be expected to do and punishment was not merited for what was beyond their control. "So you were hungry?"

"Very, very hungry," Daniel confirmed. "Even though we ate a lot, we're getting hungry again."

Maraba smiled. "Well, if you younglings are hungry, then we should feed you. There should be something set out in the dining room for the late diners."

Ebbas debated on having his charges go back to their room versus going to the dining room and decided that the latter was the easier option. He, the captain, and Maraba led the four Dhanha-ahvti to the dining room, settled them at a table, and raided the buffet for them. Late diners always had things like soups, salads, and sandwiches set out for them by the kitchen staff. The three Avwand got them each a salad, several sandwiches, and some soup which Ebbas added their dietary supplement to. "That's probably why you're so hungry; your body wants more of what's been missing from your diet. This should help. Just wait a moment to let it dissolve and then you can eat."

Jack had already started on the sandwiches, his face a picture of bliss. "Okay."

Maraba looked at Jack. "What does that word mean?"

"Uh...Danny?"

"It means, 'yes, all right, I understand,'" Daniel translated, stirring his soup to help the supplement dissolve faster.

"OH-kay," Maraba said, trying out the word for herself. "OHHHHHHH-KAAAAAAYYYEEEE."

Sam quickly took a bite of the salad to keep herself from laughing. The face Maraba was making was priceless!

The captain watched all four of them without trying to stare, Ebbas noticed. He could tell the captain found them all as fascinating as everyone else did. They did look like children, but they were not Avwand, and there were times when they seemed like children, yet they expressed themselves and seemed to think like adults.

"DON'T!" Teal'c shouted, startling all of them.

"What's wrong?" Ebbas asked.

"Daniel Jackson, put down your fork and look at it."

Daniel did as Teal'c asked and spotted it. "Wow. Thanks, Teal'c."

"You are welcome. I do not think O'Neill could stand another trip to the infirmary."

"Or watching him turn purple," Jack said, heaving a sigh of relief.

"What happened?" Maraba asked, confused.

Ebbas looked at Daniel's plate of salad and could have kicked himself. "Daniel's allergic to this," he said, pointing at the culprit. "I didn't even see it."

"That's all right," Daniel said affably. "Teal'c saw it in time."

It wasn't long before their plates and bowls were empty and they were feeling better. Ebbas found himself hoping that their bodies would adjust to the supplement soon because five minutes after eating all of them were energetic once again and more than eager to do a bit more running around.

"Absolutely not," Ebbas said, feeling slightly panicked. "It is now late evening and I doubt anyone will appreciate your running around or making noise. Besides, it's hours past your bed time."

"But we're not tired!" Jack complained. "In fact, I feel like a could play a couple innings of baseball. Anyone want to join me?"

"No," Ebbas said desperately, scooping Jack up before he could start running to the recreation areas. "It is very late. It is time for bed."

Jack squirmed for a moment, clearly annoyed. "Oh, for cryin' out loud! I'm not a kid! Daniel, will you talk to this guy?"

Daniel translated, but he doubted that Ebbas would understand "for crying out loud," even if it was put into his language. Daniel just reported that Jack said he was not a kid and wanted to be let go.

Ebbas cast a skeptical look at Jack, who was still wriggling and trying to get away. "He acts just like a child sometimes. Right now, especially. Debate about his status aside, it really is time--_past_ time--for you all to be in bed."

"Is it late?" Sam asked, interested. "Midnight? Later?"

Ebbas caught what she was asking. "It is late enough for you," he said. "Captain, Maraba, will you give me a hand with them?"

Something occurred to Teal'c. "Where are your usual companions, Ebbas?"

"They have the evening off and I'm on call just in case you needed something." They could tell that he was feeling rather put out that they'd gotten out of their room and had found their own meal before roaming the ship. "Now, could we please return to your quarters?"

Jack reflected that pressure points didn't work on aliens. "How about 'no'?" he said, still fighting to be let go. "C'mon, Ebbas! We're not tired and we don't feel like going to bed!"

The captain looked thoughtful. "Maraba, why don't we go to your office?"

Maraba and Ebbas turned to stare at him. "Why?" Ebbas almost groaned.

"It is soundproof, is it not?" he pointed out. "The recreation areas are closed for the night and the counselors' offices are the only other places that are soundproofed. The Dhanha-ahvti can run about in your office if they wish and no one will hear them."

"That's a very good idea," Maraba said. "Yes, we can go to my office."

"All right!" Jack said exuberantly. "We win!"

Daniel fought down a laugh. Jack really had to get out some of that excess energy. His fist-punch of victory had nearly landed in Ebbas's face.

"Yes, yes, you win...for now," Ebbas said testily. "There will be other times."

Maraba led them all to her office and once the door was closed she gave them the all-clear for being noisy. Jack grabbed a pillow from the floor and took off with it. "He's heading to the end-zone! He's almost there! Touchdow--OW!" Jack had tripped and Teal'c scooped up the "ball" and took off for the other end of the room.

"And O'Neill fumbles the ball but Teal'c recovers and goes for the touchdown! It's good!" Sam cheered, throwing her arms up in the "touchdown" sign.

All three Avwand were watching the humans, highly amused.

"I have not yet begun to fight," Jack said, getting up from his faceplant. "Good thing the carpet's soft in here."

"I believe a celebratory dance is in order after I have spiked the pillow," Teal'c said, smiling. "Am I correct, O'Neill?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack said, getting to his feet and rubbing his face. "No matter how soft the carpet is, it still hurts when you land on your nose."

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked as the Avwand took seats in a small sitting area off to the right. Daniel guessed that Maraba must be like Jack--unable to see a knick-knack and leave it alone--since she started to fuss with a small white pyramid on the table beside her.

"Yeah, just my ego's bruised."

Teal'c spiked the pillow, but he picked it up again and went back to his friends. "Shall we play?"

The game didn't last long. Fifteen minutes later they were more than ready to stop. "Who's ready to call it quits for a while?" Jack asked, flopping onto an oversized cushion. "We can rest a little bit and then keep going."

Sam dropped onto a cushion of her own and sighed. "I don't want to admit it, but I think I'm getting tired."

"Just rest a bit," Jack said, closing his eyes. Teal'c sat down and closed his eyes, preparing to kel'no'reem.

Daniel looked around the room, his mind finally putting things together. The walls were a light shade of green and none of the lighting was direct. The temperature was comfortable and just right for...He strode over to the Avwand and looked at them. "This whole room is geared for sleep, isn't it?" he asked.

"It's meant to encourage relaxation," Maraba corrected him.

"Yeah, the color, the light, the soft rug and pillows everywhere," Daniel listed. He stopped and listened for a moment. "What's that noise?"

"What noise?" Ebbas asked far too innocently.

Daniel cocked his head to the side, trying to listen. "That humming." It sounded familiar, but he couldn't think what it was.

"It's not important," the captain told him. "You don't have to listen to it."

Daniel stayed focused on the noise, ignoring him. He would figure out what it reminded him of if it drove him nuts in the process. He knew that he knew it; the name for it just wouldn't come to him. It was starting to make him frustrated. "Wait a minute," he said as something occurred to him. "Maraba, you're a counselor. That noise...it's white noise? It's supposed to keep people from outside the room from hearing what's being said?"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "But you're right, it does have to do with me being a counselor."

Daniel thought about it and wondered just what it was. Counselor...a room geared for relaxation...the room was soundproofed, so you didn't need something to drown out sound...."It's a device that helps you relax, isn't it?" The thing reminded him of the white noise machine outside of Mackenzie's office and sometimes, hearing that little UFO-looking thing hum could be relaxing.

"You're very quick," Maraba said, flashing him a brilliant smile.

Daniel fought down the urge to throw a pillow at her. "You brought us here intending for us to go to sleep, didn't you?"

"Well, it is way past your bedtime," Ebbas told him. "We didn't know what else to try. It didn't look like you were about to wind down anytime soon."

Daniel's energy left him then. All of the elements in the room combined to hit him over the head and make him more than ready to drop onto a cushion and rest. "That isn't fair," Daniel complained. "You're treating us like children!"

"We are treating you like Dhanha-ahvti," Ebbas corrected.

"You know, in all the time we've spent here and all the time we've been speaking your language, you haven't once explained that term," Daniel said testily, more than a little fed up.

All of the Avwand exchanged looks, surprised. Ebbas actually looked contrite. "I am sorry, Daniel," he said. "I've been thinking this whole time that you understood what it meant."

"Why don't you tell me now?" Daniel suggested, climbing up into an empty armchair. "I'm more than ready to listen."

"Aren't you tired?" Maraba wanted to know.

"Not yet," Daniel fibbed. He was a little tired, but he could stay awake a little longer if he had to. If he understood "Dhanha-ahvti" better, then maybe he could understand their status with the Avwand better and their expectations of them would be a little clearer. Hopefully.

Ebbas was the one to explain. "Dhanha-ahvti" was a phrase used to describe someone who needed to be cared for. In essence, that person was a child and children needed to be cared for. Anyone who was not born an Avwand was either "Dhanha-ahvti" (someone of another people or species who needed to be taken care of when he entered Avwand society) or they were "Dhanha-ahmti" (a child belonging to a race that was not Avwand and needed caring for). Essentially, they were almost the same thing. Neither Dhanha-ahvti or Dhanha-ahmti could be trusted to take care of themselves in Avwand society because they were not able to. The Avwand were an advanced race while the other races they knew of were not. Hence, they were "Dhanha-ahvti."

"I see," Daniel said, his stomach sinking. They had a bit of a superiority mindset that could be difficult to overcome. "Do any of the other races you've met use the Gate? I mean, the big circle?" That was how it was described by the Avwand and he had to use that term or they would have no idea what he was talking about.

"None of them have ships or offworld posts," the captain said. To the humans, the Gate was a method of exploration, but to the Avwand, it was merely a fast way to transport supplies from their planets to their ships. The Avwand, the captain explained, were settled over a series of planets but the planet they were going to now did not have a Gate that could be used to receive supplies, so this ship was on a resupply mission. They used the Gates in this part of the galaxy to transport goods but they relied on ships to travel. Most people didn't trust traveling through the Gates.

Daniel thought for a few moments. "Are you heading to the planet that needs supplies or are you returning from it?"

"We are on our way there," the captain told him.

Daniel nodded. "When you've resupplied your outpost, what will happen to us? Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and me? Will you help us return home?"

"I don't see how we can do that," Ebbas said, shaking his head.

"Why not?" Daniel asked. "We could use the Gate. Your navigation systems should be able to tell you exactly where you were when we boarded, so we can return there and use the Gate. It's that simple."

"What point of origin would you use?" Ebbas asked. "I do know that you have to have a point of origin for the circle to work, so what would you use?"

"Well, we're working on figuring that out," Daniel told him. "If we could have access to your records and a computer, we could figure that out pretty quickly."

Again the Avwand exchanged looks. "I don't think that would be a good idea, Daniel," Maraba said. "Traveling through the circle is dangerous."

Daniel shook his head. "No, it isn't. I've done it plenty of times."

All three of them stared at him. "That's not possible, Daniel!"

"No, it is," Daniel insisted. "If we get to somewhere else with a circle, then we can show you. You can even try it for yourself--once you get used to it, it's fun!"

The way they were all staring at him made him very, very nervous for a few moments. What worried him even more was how they immediately changed the subject and encouraged him to settle down for a rest. He didn't want to and told them that, but it was like they had selective hearing. He couldn't believe it. While Ebbas was distracting him with that suggestion he saw Maraba fiddle with with the pyramid and the next moment all tension drained from him and he was sleepy. He could hardly keep his eyes open. "We'll talk about this in the morning," Daniel said, making several mental notes so he could tell his friends what he'd learned.

"We will," Ebbas promised. "Even though you cannot return home, we will take care of you."

Daniel didn't want to ask what Ebbas meant, so he let himself fall asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

While the Dhanha-ahvti slept, the captain, Maraba, and Ebbas talked. All of them were worried—no, horrified—that the Dhanha-ahvti were travelling through the Circle. It was dangerous! They could be hurt! The Circle was fine for transporting goods and the like, but not living creatures!

"Do you think it may have already hurt them?" Maraba asked, looking at Daniel's sleeping form with concern.

"It's fully possible, but their doctors have not noted anything that they feel should be a worry," Ebbas told her. "Not in connection with the Circle, anyway."

"How could we know?" the captain countered. "We don't know what the effects would be. Perhaps it's affected them and they don't even realize it. Perhaps they think they're fine. Either way, we can't really know. Besides, their talk of using the Circle again to return home is laughable. Even if we did find the place where they boarded, what point of origin would they use? How would they figure it out? Would they use the destination they were aiming for or would they have to devise a new one?"

"All of this is worrying," Ebbas said tiredly. "I think that for right now, all we can do is keep a closer eye on them and try to listen to what they're saying so we're not taken by surprise again. I intend to install a listening device as well as a camera so we can hear them. That way, they won't find it so easy to go wandering again."

"I'll send a technician to examine their door," the captain promised. "I'd like to know how they managed to open it."

Ebbas nodded. "I'd like to know that, too. Thank you." He stopped, looked at each of the Dhanha-ahvti asleep on their cushions (and in Daniel's case, in his chair) and sighed. "Will you help me get them to their room and into bed?"

"Certainly," the captain told him. "Let's go."

Space

Waking up the next morning was not high on Jack O'Neill's list of priorities. It was about number 99 on a list of 100 and nothing was making him get up before he was good and ready to. Besides, he was nice and relaxed and that feeling felt so nice that he wasn't eager for it to end. A hum nearby was helping the relaxed feeling along and he was happy to let it.

"Jack?"

Shut up, Daniel. I'm tired.

"Jack, please wake up."

Nope.

"Let me try," he heard. A moment later and something cold and wet was dropped onto his face, startling him out of the nice relaxed feeling. He sat up and glared at Carter, who grinned like a happy fiend. "Sorry, sir," she said. "You wouldn't wake up."

"All right, all right, I'm awake!" he said grouchily. "What is it?"

"Breakfast," Teal'c said evenly.

_That_ perked him right up. "Sweet. Let's eat!" He clambered out of bed and stopped. "Hey, where's Ebbas and Friends?"

"Don't know," Daniel said quietly. "We woke up and breakfast was here."

"Well, let's eat," Jack said. "We can solve mysteries better if we have fuel first."

The change in their routine, though, unsettled them more than they liked to admit. What was going on? Why had things changed? They ate breakfast, uncharacteristically quiet and once they were finished eating, they cleaned up and set the breakfast things aside.

"What do you think's going on?" Jack asked, switching to pow-wow mode.

"I don't like it," Sam said. "Did you see what they've done to our beds?"

Jack's head whipped around to stare at them. "What?"

"They've installed a machine that's meant to induce relaxation and eventually, sleepiness," Daniel explained. "I spotted one in Maraba's office last night and I kept at her until she admitted what it did. There's one on the ceiling above the beds."

"Rat bastards," Jack growled. "Any chance of getting it down or deactivating it?"

"I was trying to work on that, but it cut off on its own after you woke up completely."

"You mean after you dropped a cold, wet washcloth on my face?" Jack groaned. "That means it's controlled remotely. Fabulous."

"I do not like this," Teal'c said darkly. "They have machines that can influence us, they have brought us our meal but they did not stay as they usually did, and we do not know what is going on. I think the situation requires us to be vigilant."

"I think you're right," Jack said. "This whole thing is giving me the heebie-jeebies."

"I'm hoping they come soon and they explain what's happening," Daniel said, going to the bookshelves. "In the meantime, why don't I read to you to pass the time?"

Jack smiled. It was like Daniel to try to make them all feel better. "Sounds great, Danny. Read away."

Space

Ebbas and his team watched as the Dhanha-ahvti settled down to listen to what Daniel was reading.

"Does he always do that? Read to them and translate what people are saying?" the captain asked.

"Oh, yes," Ebbas admitted. "I think Daniel's expertise is in languages. I was hoping by this point to have them all conversant and literate in our language, but that hasn't happened."

"It's not for a lack of our trying," Shansarra stated. "It seems their facility with the language decreased as Daniel's increased, and they began to rely on him for translation."

The captain nodded. "I see. What do you think would be an effective method in teaching them?"

"We've used every method we can think of," Bhanhan confessed. "We've inundated them with the words, supplied meanings and illustrations and demonstrations, presented them with written language…I don't know what else we can try."

The captain appeared to think. "I have an idea, but I don't know if it will work."

"What is it?" Ebbas asked.

"The Dhanha-ahvti might think it's extreme, but I have a feeling it will work," he told them. "Here's what we should do."

The entire group leaned close to listen.

Space

It was amazing how bored you could get when you no longer had huge chattering aliens around to distract you. Daniel had read to them for close to an hour before he had to stop due to a tired throat. After that, they set up a board game and had a tournament amongst themselves. Teal'c, the master strategist, had of course beaten their butts to oblivion and then some. For a while they sat on cushions and talked about things—what could possibly be going on, what everyone back home might be doing, whether General Hammond had had that heart attack he'd been threatening to have for years whenever one of his teams caused him to worry—but that wore off sooner than any of them liked. Once they'd exhausted topics to talk about, they seemed stuck for something to do.

"I'd kill to have those piles of paperwork I left sitting on my desk," Jack said quietly.

Sam smiled. "The tallest one or the oldest one?"

"Well, both," he answered. "All this sudden free time and very little to fill it. General Hammond would love it if I got it all done."

"If you'd fill it out at the end of every mission like you're supposed to that wouldn't happen," Daniel lectured.

"Aw, come on," Jack said. "Like I'm gonna stick around my office pushing papers when I could be at home unwinding."

"Well, I was just thinking that if you sat right down and did your paperwork it wouldn't tend to pile up."

Teal'c chuckled. "Perhaps, O'Neill, you should attempt to feng shui the piles of paperwork. That way, they will contribute to the overall harmony of your office and they will cease to clutter your desk."

"I have a desk?"

The old joke made all of them laugh.

"Yes, sir, you have a desk," Sam said, laughing.

"You know, the big gray thing in your office that holds your computer," Daniel added.

"Which is the device you use for playing video games," Teal'c reminded him.

"Oh, yeah. That."

Jack's deadpan reaction made them all crack up and they spent a few minutes laughing, getting out the tension that had built up.

"That's why I like this team so much," Jack said easily once they'd calmed down. "We can make each other laugh."

"A good quality to have in a team," Teal'c commented.

"You got that right."

For a while they were each so lost in their own thoughts that none of them noticed when the relax-machine switched on. Daniel heard the sound for about a minute before he realized what it was. "Guys, the hummer's on."

All of them got to their feet.

"Why'd they turn it on?" Sam asked. "If you ask me, I'd say we're pretty calm!"

"I don't know," Daniel said, climbing up onto the top bunk and looking at the machine. "I don't like this."

"See any switch marked 'off'?" Jack asked.

Daniel examined the device. "I don't see any markings anywhere."

"This is intolerable," Teal'c said. "They have no right to treat us in such a manner. Come down from there, Daniel Jackson."

Clueless to Teal'c's plan, Daniel left the top bunk and Teal'c climbed up. In his hand he held one of the larger knick-knacks that decorated their room.

"Teal'c, whatcha doin'?" Jack asked calmly.

"Stopping this," Teal'c said, swinging his arm up to smash the knick-knack into the device.

"Woah!" Jack shouted. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It is the only option we have at the moment, O'Neill." Two more blows and the device cracked and fell to the bed, silent.

"Wow," Sam said. "That was certainly…effective."

Teal'c descended the ladder, bringing the device with him. "It was meant to be." He handed the device to Sam. "Perhaps you can open the device and study its design?"

Sam blessed him for giving her something to do. "Sure."

Space

All of them watched in shock as they watched Teal'c attack the device.

"What is he doing?" the captain said, very surprised.

"It looks like he's attempting to stop it," Ebbas said, and the device fell. "And he just did."

"He's not supposed to do that! That thing is supposed to help them sleep!"

"I'm getting the feeling that they didn't want to go to sleep," Bhanhana said, annoyed. "What do we do now?"

"Asleep or awake, we'll do what we planned to do," the captain stated. "Let's go."

Space

All of SG-1 knew that there would be some reaction to Teal'c's actions, but none of them expected all of Ebbas & Co. and the captain to come. They didn't expect the captain to walk right up to them and start talking.

"What's he saying?" Jack asked.

"He's saying that we should not have done that, there's no reason to have done it, and things of that nature," Daniel said. "In short, he's giving us a lecture."

The captain turned and asked a question directly of Jack. When Daniel began to translate the captain surprised them all by snapping at him.

"What'd he say?" Jack demanded, put out that the captain had bitten Daniel's head off. Daniel was only trying to help!

"He told me to quit translating. He wants you to listen and answer his questions."

"Well, I don't understand him, so it would be better if you translated," Jack answered.

Daniel delivered the answer and the captain sighed with frustration.

"He says that's the problem, Jack," Daniel translated as the captain spoke. "He says that out of all of us, I'm the only who can really speak the language. Teal'c can occasionally do it, Sam sometimes, and you hardly ever. He says that's not good."

"Hey, some people are good at languages and some aren't," Jack told the captain while Daniel translated. "So sue me."

The captain said something else.

"What?" Jack said, turning to Daniel.

"He said that the problem needs to be rectified."

"And how does he propose to do that?" Jack asked. "Do they have a version of Rosetta Stone for their language we could use?"

"I don't know," Daniel said as the captain moved away to talk to Ebbas. "I think we might be going back to school."

"Oh, not that again. I could barely stand it the first time!"

The captain left Ebbas and approached them again. "Daniel, have you been teaching them what you could?"

Daniel nodded. It was true, too. He'd slip in a language lesson whenever he could, but they didn't always stick.

"Could you write down what you've been doing?" the captain asked, pointing to a whiteboard that lay on the table. "We'd like to see which methods you've been using."

"Sure," Daniel said, getting up and going to the table. He'd just picked up a stylus when he felt hands scoop him up. "Hey!"

The captain handed him to Ebbas, who scooted out the door with him. Just as SG-1 were getting to their feet, the rest of the Avwand swept out of the room, leaving them alone.

"What's going on?" Daniel demanded as the door shut behind them. "Why did you do that?" he could hear his friends shouting and pounding on the door, demanding that it be opened and Daniel returned to them.

"They've come to rely on you too much to translate for them," the captain told him. "We all think it would be better if you stayed somewhere else for a short while until they got better at speaking."

"No!" Daniel said, wiggling in Ebbas's arms. "I don't want to stay somewhere else!"

"I think you'll like where you're going," the captain told him, taking him from Ebbas and patting his back, the same way a human would try to soothe a restless child.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Daniel snapped. "Put me down! I'm not a child!"

"No, you are a Dhanha-ahvti," the captain said, still holding him and not heeding his order to be put on his feet. He turned to Ebbas and his team. "Ebbas, I'll expect you to work with them as much as possible. Maraba can help you if she wishes. Make sure they know that the sooner they learn the sooner Daniel will be returned."

"That won't work," Daniel scoffed. "Trust me."

"I think it will," the captain told him. "Come on, little one. Let's get you settled."

"I'm already settled here!" Daniel protested. "No! I don't want to go with you!"

The captain ignored Daniel's protests and set off down the hallway as his underlings bid him goodbye. Daniel kept up a steady stream of complaints the whole way and threatened to get revenge if it was the last thing he ever accomplished on this plane of existence.

Daniel felt all his protests die in his throat as they reached their goal ten minutes later. The captain entered a set of quarters and Daniel realized this was someone's living space. Once the door was closed the captain left the entryway and entered what looked like a living room.

"Sihrada?"

An Avwand sitting on the couch looked up and smiled, and her smile widened when she saw what the captain was holding. "Altan! Is this the Dhanha-ahvti you told me about? Oh, he's adorable!"

"Yes," the captain said, setting Daniel on his feet. "His name is Daniel."

"Hello, Daniel!" Sihrada said happily.

"I asked Sihrada if you could stay with us for a while and she said it was all right," Altan told him.

"It's not all right with me," Daniel said firmly, trying hard to ignore Sihrada's friendliness. "I want to go back to my friends."

"He's just a little homesick for his friends," the captain—Altan—said. "We need to make him feel welcome."

"You need to let me return to my friends," Daniel answered.

Sihrada looked at Altan, confused. "Did he not want to come?"

"No," Daniel said quickly. "And he won't take me back."

"There's a very good reason why," Altan told Sihrada. "He was doing all the translating for each of his friends when they needed to learn the language themselves."

To Daniel, this didn't sound like a very good reason but a barely adequate one. "Okay, so you wanted them to learn your language a little better! You didn't have to take me away and bring me here!"

Sihrada was thinking. "Daniel, your friends need to learn our language, just like every Dhaha-ahvti we've met. If they're relying on you to translate everything they see and hear, then that isn't fair to you and it's doing them a disservice. You'll all be better off with a little time apart."

_It's a cultural thing,_ Daniel thought. _It has to be._ "I want to go back."

Sihrada smiled. "And you will, just not right now. Are you hungry? It's almost time for lunch."

At the mention of food, his stomach growled. _Traitor!_ Daniel thought sourly.

"He needs a nutritional supplement added to his food," Altan told her. "I'll have his doctor bring us some." He went to a nearby console and began tapping keys. "Daniel, why don't you go with Sihrada? You might like to see how our food's prepared."

Sihrada wasn't close enough to grab him and Altan was too far away as he whirled and headed straight for the door. He managed to stop just in time to keep from slamming into it when it didn't open.

"It's locked, Daniel," Altan called from the living room.

"Then unlock it!"

"No. If you don't want to go with Sihrada, would you like to see your room?"

"I want to go back to my friends!"

"Then you'll have to be disappointed for a while."

Daniel couldn't believe just how impossible they were being. He felt just as if he were back in foster care!

That thought was what did it. It killed all of his resistance and drowned him in worry. What was he going to do if they decided to send him somewhere else? What if they felt he would do better on a completely different ship from his friends? What if they felt he would be better back on the Avwand home world or somewhere else? Would he ever see them again?

Foster care was sometimes a good thing for kids since it got them out of bad situations and often the people who were willing to open up their homes to those kids were good and loving. Other times, it landed them in situations that were bad in other ways. The curse of foster care was that sometimes when you were with a family you really liked they couldn't keep you since they weren't a permanent placing. Sometimes your permanent placing wasn't as nice, or they decided they didn't want you after all and sent you back into the system. Not once in his experience had ever ended up back with the family he'd liked but ended up with someone else. He'd been glad when his final placement had been determined but after a few weeks he wished they'd decide they didn't want him. They'd never starved or hit him or screamed at him, but his foster parents could be described by a few choice terms. "Cold" and "perfection-seeking" were two of the kindest. The others could not be spoken in polite company.

He sank to his knees and sat down, unable to stand and worried, worried, worried. What was he going to do?

"It's all right," he heard Sihrada say as her arms encircled him. "Your visit is just that—a visit. You won't be here forever and you'll see your friends soon."

"When?" he asked, proud that his voice didn't waver. "In a few days? A week? Longer?"

"We can ask Altan," Sihrada said, lifting him up and settling him in her arms. "If he hasn't made the arrangements for a visit yet, then I'll make them myself."

Daniel looked up at her as she settled him against her side. He hadn't expected her to offer such a thing. "You will?"

"Of course I will," she promised. "Now, let's see about lunch, shall we?"

_If Sihrada were a foster mom on Earth_, Daniel reflected while he helped her put lunch together, _she'd be an excellent one._ Sihrada chatted quietly with him as she moved about the kitchen preparing lunch. Occasionally she would pat his shoulder or his back in order to get him used to her and to let him know that she liked him enough to touch him. She showed her interest in him by asking him questions and let him help her in a few small ways to show that she thought he was capable of those tasks and that she trusted him to accomplish them. Once lunch was ready he helped her set the table as Altan joined them.

"This looks wonderful," he said. "Well done, you two."

Daniel didn't say anything. Altan sprinkled a packet of powder over his bowl of soup, though, and Daniel was relieved to see that it was his nutritional supplement. The last thing he needed was to be tired and muzzy-headed from a lack of the proper nutrients. He moved through the mechanics of eating with his mind on his friends and wondered how they were doing.

Once lunch was over, Altan and Sihrada gave him a tour of their living quarters. They weren't that unremarkable and the entire set of rooms was done in cool, calming colors or neutral tones. Furniture was comfortable and functional and occasionally he would spot something like a painting or knick-knack that would add a dash of some other color.

"And this is _your_ room," Altan said brightly as a door opened up. He and Sihrada ushered him in and stood back, awaiting his reaction.

The room was all different shades of blue with an occasional splash of yellow to brighten things up. There was a large bed that was low enough for him to get into without a stepstool and a low comfortable-looking chair at the same level. Next to the chair were a lamp and a bookshelf full of books, creating a reading nook. Nearby were a table and chairs for someone his size that could serve as a desk and on the adjacent wall was an enormous white board for him to write on and…a shelf of toys. Of course.

"Do you like it?" Sihrada asked hopefully.

_How do I answer that?_ Daniel wondered as he looked around the room. He didn't like the fact that it was decorated for a child, but he had to appreciate that they'd put a bit of work into making him a space they thought he'd like. "Yes," he said at last. "It's perfect." After all, it wouldn't kill him to be polite. Then, he yawned.

Sihrada looked at him. "What was that?"

"It's an involuntary action that the Dhanha-ahvti do whenever they're tired," Altan explained. "Are you in need of some rest, Daniel?"

Wearily, he nodded. At the moment, being by himself and hearing nothing but silence seemed like a wonderful thing. He needed some alone time desperately.

"All right," Altan said, patting him on the shoulder. "One of us will come to check on you in a while, okay?"

Daniel fought down his amusement that the captain had used an Earth slang term. "Okay. Will you check on my friends too and tell me how they're doing?"

Altan smiled. "Definitely."

Daniel slipped off his glasses and his shoes, set them all aside, and flopped onto the bed, his eyes closing of their own accord. A moment later Sihrada spread a blanket over him and he was out.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 Encounter-Warning! Slight whumpage!

Nightmares plagued him. Whenever he fell asleep they descended on him, keeping him from his rest with horrible visions of himself lost and alone. _That _was one of the things he feared the most. If the Goa'uld or any of their enemies had ever learned of that fear, they would have had an effective means of torture that would break him in practically no time at all. He hated to think that he would one day be as friendless and solitary as he'd been growing up. He'd gotten used to having a family through the company of his friends and he really, truly did not want to lose them or be taken away from them. He didn't think he could stand it.

Whenever he could, he thought of his friends. He thought about Sam, Teal'c, and Jack almost constantly, reminding himself that it wouldn't be long before he saw them again and that once he was with them he would feel better. He would feel more like himself instead of the ghost he felt like now. He would be able to talk and laugh again, he would be able to smile, and he would be able to take a deep breath.

Altan and Sihrada knew something was bothering him. He caught them watching him more than once and often they would ask him how he was and if there was anything he wanted or needed. Was he thirsty? Would he like a snack? Was he tired and in need of a rest? Was he bored? Would he like a game or book? Whenever they started in with their questions, he would escape to his room and try to forget, for just a little while, that he was essentially a prisoner.

Of the two of them, Daniel preferred Sihrada. She was kind and she didn't brush off his feelings as simple homesickness. She didn't press him to talk about what was bothering him the way Altan did and let him be. She seemed to know instinctively that if he felt like talking he would talk. She seemed to sense when he wanted company and when he wanted to be alone; when he was hungry, when he was tired, and when he needed to be distracted from how he was feeling. When that happened she would chatter to him, filling up the silence and helping time pass. She told him stories about the Avwand and the Avwand homeworld and he found that interesting enough to divert him from his worries. He learned more about their history and culture, which was all to the good in his opinion. He needed to understand enough about a culture in order to help them understand his culture and come to some sort of agreement about things.

Every few days he asked Sihrada when he was going to see his friends, reminding her of her promise. At first, she said she had to arrange it with Ebbas and his group, but after a while she said that he would see them soon.

"But when?" he demanded. "You've been saying the same thing for a while now and I've been here for days! When will I see them?"

To that question she always gave the same answer: "Soon."

That would usually send him to his room for a while so he wouldn't be tempted to start yelling. Doing that wouldn't help anything, no matter how much he wanted to do it.

Space

"It's been a week and a half," Jack growled as he paced. "I can't believe this. They just can't take one of our people away and expect us to be all right with it!"

"I doubt that is one of their concerns, O'Neill," Teal'c said darkly. "However, they should think about making it one of their top concerns."

"I just hope Daniel's okay," Sam confessed. "I can't begin to guess how he's taking this."

"Not well," Jack reminded them.

It was almost time for lunch but the Avwand were giving them a short time to themselves so they could calm down. The morning with its constant language lessons had been trying for all concerned and Jack knew that the tension between them and their Avwand teachers was reaching critical mass. They demanded to see Daniel and Ebbas & Friends declared that they would see Daniel once they'd reached a higher level of proficiency in Avwand.

Needless to say, all of SG-1 found that very annoying. For a few minutes they were all quiet, thinking of Daniel.

"How much trouble do you think he's caused by this point?" Jack asked, breaking the silence.

His two team members looked at him and Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, O'Neill?"

"I have a feeling that he'll be quiet for a little while, but then he'll get mad," Jack clarified. "I think he'll do something to let them know he's not gonna take this lying down."

All of them thought about this. It was like Daniel to do something when a situation wasn't to his liking, but what he would do in this case was up to guessing. Since they hadn't really been in a situation like this, they had no precedent to help them figure out what Daniel might do and consequently, they didn't know how they could help him. He would be flying solo in any plan he undertook.

"Let's just hope he's careful," Sam said, thinking about the number of ways any plan could go wrong.

"This is Daniel," Jack said. "He'll be careful."

"We know Daniel Jackson will be careful, O'Neill," Teal'c reminded him. "It is the Avwand we must worry about."

Space

General Hammond leaned forward and buried his head in his hands, praying that the headache he felt circling would decide to go bother someone else for a while. He couldn't believe how long SG-1 had been missing. They'd been missing for weeks before but never had they been gone this long. He examined the memo that Walter had handed him shortly after lunch and winced at the subject line. SG-1. Washington was tired of waiting and they were pressuring him to list them as "missing, presumed dead." They stated that no more time could be spent on the search and that the country didn't have the resources to keep the search going for much longer. The wisest course of action, they argued, was to lock SG-1's IDC out of the computer and replace the team. They conceded that it was a very great shame that SG-1 was gone, but facts had to be faced sometime.

Curse politicians and all they stood for. Occasionally, a truly great man or woman would step forward into the arena, but most politicians were concerned with getting into office and then remaining there for as long as possible. The majority of people in Washington now were some of the latter ilk and Hammond had no use for them. Sighing, he turned to his writing tablet, picked up a pen, and began to write.

Space

Ebbas kept an eye on his charges and prayed to the stars for peace. He wished he could make them understand why they couldn't see Daniel and why they had to pay attention to their lessons, but they refused to listen to what any of them said. No matter how many times he told them that once they learned enough of Avwand for proficiency then Daniel would come back, but it was like they didn't even hear him when he said that.

Sometimes he suspected them of ignoring him on purpose. He wouldn't put it past them.

Jack was the worst, without a doubt. He glared, he complained, he snapped at people, and he was thoroughly unpleasant to be around. He actually managed to forget a good bit of what he learned, which just made Ebbas' job that much harder and Daniel's return that much later.

Why, why, _why_ were they so stubborn? Was it something cultural? Something specific to their species?

There were times when he missed Daniel.

According to Captain Altan, Daniel missed his friends and stated every day that he wanted to return to them, but he was just as stubborn as his friends about his not being allowed to be with them just yet. Altan said that it was like living with a recording, hearing the same thing over and over again. With the way he felt now, Ebbas would gladly take the recording if it meant he'd be spared Jack's bad mood. The man was implacable. Sighing, Ebbas left the observation room and headed to rejoin his colleagues, hoping that their latest plan to teach them would be effective.

Space

"I'm sorry, Daniel," Sihrada said, sounding truly contrite. "I tried, I really, really tried, but the Ship's Council has decided that it wouldn't be best if you visited your friends right now."

Daniel stared at her. "Let me get this straight. The Ship's Council, which we haven't even met and who don't know us and rely on second-hand reports for information about us, has decreed that they should follow Ebbas's and Altan's suggestions that we-I and members of my own people-not be allowed to have contact with each other for the time being. Is that right?"

Sihrada nodded. He'd been listening very carefully as she explained and he had her explanations almost word-for-word. "That's right."

"So, the Ship's Council is relying on their own judgements and on the judgement of Ebbas, his colleagues, Maraba, and Altan, correct?"

"Exactly."

Daniel crossed his arms and sighed. His lips pursed and his eyebrows came down as he thought very hard about something. "Well, why the hell are _they_ such experts?" he wanted to know, his tone furious. "What makes them think they know better than we do?"

Sihrada hadn't expected this. "You are Dhanha-ahvti," she said, as if that explained everything. To her people, that phrase made a lot of sense and explained the way they interacted with other races, but to Daniel, it was like petrol on a campfire.

"Aw, bullshit!" he said rudely in English. Sihrada recognized what he meant by his tone and she was more than a little surprised.

"Dhanha-ahvti! Dhanha-ahvti!" he repeated, throwing up his hands. "It sounds like you people just use that phrase to pigeon-hole people who aren't exactly like you! You use it to...to...look down on them and to consider yourselves superior! Tell me this, to your knowledge has any other race you've come into contact with _not_ been classified as 'Dhanha-ahvti'?"

She thought about it and all the races the Avwand had met over the years. She could remember about each group of people she'd learned about in school. She could even remember the textbook she'd used in her classes and the chart of known peoples and their classifications, and each entry had been followed by 'Dhanha-ahvti.' She shook her head. "No."

"My people have a word for that," Daniel said dryly. "They call it 'ethnocentrism.' It's the belief that one's own culture and people is inherently better than all others, that one's own culture is superior while others are inferior. My people have struggled with that in the past when they came into contact with other peoples and I can tell you that it always leads to misunderstandings and difficulties and, if all parties concerned are not careful, disaster."

Sihrada blinked, thinking about what Daniel had said. To an Avwand, the English word "ethnocentrism" sounded beautiful, but its meaning was something that she couldn't quite wrap her mind around. All her life she'd been told that the Avwand helped each race they met by making them a part of Avwand society and giving them Avwand culture, but now Daniel was telling her that assuming Avwand culture was better than the culture of the other races was bad. "Why is such a thing bad?"

Daniel pulled himself up onto the couch where Sihrada sat. "It's bad because each people have their own ways of living that's appropriate for where they live. People live everywhere on my world in all kinds of environments and they've learned how to thrive in each place. The ways they've learned how to live became important to them over centuries and became beloved traditions. Their environment helped them learn ways to view the world and how to interact with each other. Each group felt their way was best since that was what worked best for them, and when two groups came into contact with each other, both groups assumed that their way of life was best when it was best for where they lived. Do you understand?"

Sihrada nodded, feeling more and more surprised the longer Daniel talked. This...this was far beyond what was accepted reasoning ability for a Dhanha-ahvti without the benefit of Avwand education! How was Daniel able to think this way without being educated in the Avwand way?

"When groups with a lot of power decided they either wanted to control or wanted the lands where other groups of people lived, they would just move in and take things away from the weaker groups," Daniel continued. "What the strong groups did was called 'colonial imperialism,' and the result for the weaker groups was called 'collective trauma.' The stronger groups put the weaker groups under their protection whether the people wanted it or not, and the weaker groups experienced a widespread feeling of powerlessness, hopelessness, and loss. Imagine if a space-faring race more powerful than you came to your homeworld, told you you were under its protection, and then proceeded to teach you their ways because they felt they were better for you than your own. That is the most common disaster ethnocentrism can cause. The others are worse." It was an incomplete explanation, but it was an explanation that applied to this situation and would hopefully get at least one person to see the postion the humans were in. Sure, ethnocentrism and colonial imperialism and collective trauma were far more complicated than how he had portrayed them, but he had a feeling that if he tried to present each facet and be fair to all situations and groups concerned then Sihrada would become confused. Right now, he had to convince her of what he was trying to tell her.

"But what if a stronger group's ways were really better?" Sihrada asked. "Wouldn't people be happier?"

"Sometimes such ways can make their lives easier, sure, but happier? Not always," Daniel pointed out. "Imagine that you are brought into a culture that is alien to yours. These new people tell you that your most cherished beliefs and traditions are wrong and that their ways are better. Everything you know to be true is at odds with what they're telling you. They tell you their views and beliefs over and over again, they teach you their ways, they make you live like they lived at home. You live in a new way and your whole world has changed, but would that really make you happier?"

Sihrada thought about it, considering each things Daniel had described. "I suppose not. It would be rather upsetting, almost as if you had no culture of your own. It sounds as if such a person would never fully understand the culture they've been made part of. Has that happened on your planet?"

"More times than I like to admit," Daniel told her. "Yes, it's happened. People whose cultures have been subsumed by more powerful ones are left with a very strong feeling of devastation and they not only have to fight to succeed in the remnants of their own culture, but in the larger one, too. It's very unfair."

"I see," Sihrada said. "You're saying that we could cause the same sort of trouble with the races we've termed 'Dhanha-ahvti'?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Daniel said, nodding. "Exactly."

Sihrada nodded her head once. "I will definitely think about this. Once the Council meets again, I can most likely approach them with this and-" she stopped, thinking. "Actually, Daniel, I don't know how this could help your case."

"The Council might not be in the mood to hear it and all that I've told you about ethnocentrism might not help at all," Daniel said, shrugging. "What you can tell the Council is that humans are a social people and they need the company of other humans. Without the company of our people we begin to pine away and decline. Our physical and mental health begin to suffer if we are away from our people for too long. Tell them that."

Space

"Anyone asleep yet?" Jack asked several nights after their conversation about Daniel.

"Nope," Sam said.

"I am not."

"Damn. Anyone else have a headache?"

"I think it is safe to say that all of us have headaches, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "One would think the quiet should be soothing."

"Yeah, now that it's finally quiet all I'm hearing is them talking," Jack said, complaining about Ebbas's teaching method of repeat, repeat, repeat. For the last...well, Jack had lost track of the days again, but for every day since his prediction that Daniel was about to do something Ebbas & Co. had been assiduously teaching the three remaining members of SG-1 Avwand by constantly talking to them or playing recordings. The whole routine got really old really quick.

"I never thought I would want that hummer to work," Sam complained. The Avwand had reinstalled the hummer in a place where they could not reach it and had encased it in something that would protect it from tampering. As a result, it took longer to get them to sleep. "I think if I fall asleep the headache would quit. If Daniel were here-" she trailed off, worrying.

None of them wanted to admit it, but they were very, very worried about Daniel. Ebbas had stopped giving reports of Daniel when asked for them. None of his friends-Shansarra, Bhanhana, or Lralda-would, either. Maraba was as closed-mouthed as the rest of them, and they never saw the captain. All they'd been told was that Daniel was fine and staying with the captain.

Oh, they'd asked questions. Millions of them. What did Daniel do there? Who else lived with the captain? What kind of quarters did the captain have? Most importantly, when would they get to see him? Would he come to them or would they get to visit him? Usually those last two questions would cause the Avwand to clam up even more.

"I hate to say this, but I think we have to play along," Sam said into the quiet.

"Excuse me?" Jack said. "Carter, what do you mean?"

"I mean that I think we're going to have to play the Avwand's game if we want to see Daniel any time soon. I think they're more than ready to out-stubborn us on this."

"What gives you that impression, Major Carter?"

"I don't know," she confessed. "Something is just telling me that the rules have changed. Maybe they've decided not to give in to us on anything so we would give in in turn."

Jack thought about this. "I hate to say it, but I think you're right, Carter. This all changed when they took Daniel. I don't want to admit it, but they're in complete control over us. They decide how we spend our days, when we go to bed and when we get up, what we eat...We're stuck."

"I'd pay big money to get unstuck," Sam said.

"You and me both," Jack said.

"I would also give a large part of my salary to become unstuck," Teal'c added.

The phrasing and the tone of his voice sent the two humans off into helpless laughter. There were times when you did not expect Teal'c to joke, but those were the times when his jokes were best.

"Thanks, Teal'c. We all needed that."

"You are welcome."

They were quiet for a few minutes, each thinking his or her own thoughts.

"Okay, so our game plan is...what?" Jack asked, trying to make sure they were all on the same page.

"We're going to play along," Sam said.

"We shall be the best students of Avwand they have ever had," Teal'c said.

"And won't that drive them crazy!" Jack said gleefully.

"Why is that, O'Neill? One would think that our cooperation would make them relieved."

"Yeah, but they won't know why we've suddenly decided to cooperate," Jack pointed out. "They'll go nuts trying to figure it out!"

All three of them broke out laughing and it was a few minutes before they were able to calm down enough, at last, to sleep.

Space

Daniel reminded himself to be patient. He just needed to wait. Sooner or later something would change and he would be able to get out of this situation. He had to wait. He just had to wait.

The Ship's Council wasn't making that any easier. Sihrada assiduously attended their meetings waiting for a chance to speak, and when they finally granted it she told them what Daniel had told them to tell her. They were intrigued by what she had to say, but they didn't _do_ anything! It had now been four days since then and nothing had happened. At the moment Sihrada was out and Altan was watching him. She hadn't said why she was leaving or how long she was going to be gone, but he wished she would come back. Altan kept trying to talk to him and Daniel wasn't in the mood to listen to him. His patience was frayed and very close to breaking, so it would be in Altan's best interest for him to give up trying to talk.

"I'm home!" Sihrada called as the door opened.

"Welcome home," Altan said, sounding relieved. "Well?"

Immediately Daniel knew this had something to do with him.

Sihrada smiled and sat down next to Daniel. "Daniel, I have something to tell you."

Daniel sat up and gave her his full attention. "Yes?"

"The Council has decided to see you and talk with you tomorrow," she said. "It turns out they've been thinking about what I told them last time and they're curious to know more about you."

Sweet, glorious relief rushed through him. "They want to talk to me?"

Sihrada nodded. "Yes. First thing in the morning."

He sagged back in his chair with a sigh. "Thank you, Sihrada. Thank you a thousand times." He took her hand and squeezed it, which he'd learned was a gesture of deep thankfulness among the Avwand.

"I was glad to do it," she said. "Now, it's almost time for supper. Would you like to help me?"

Daniel would have done cartwheels and the can-can if it would have made her happy. She'd done all she could for him since he'd been there and he knew that she'd put aside quite a bit of her own work in order to make things happen for him. He went into the kitchen with her, content to help her put a meal together. He had to focus his energies on tomorrow. Tomorrow it was possible that he could convince the Council to let him rejoin his friends. He had to focus on _that_.

Space

The next morning he was so nervous he almost couldn't eat breakfast. He choked down a few bites of something he couldn't taste and waited impatiently while Sihrada and Altan finished their meal. While they ate he checked his appearance about fifty times in the hall mirror, hoping that he looked like the intelligent linguist of SG-1 rather than the Dhanha-ahvti the Council was expecting. He knew he was up against their preconceptions about him and those would be some of the more difficult obstacles to overcome. He wore brown pants and boots, a deep red shirt, and of course, his glasses. He was as ready as he would ever be, he guessed.

"Ready to go?" Sihrada asked, breaking into his reverie and making him jump.

Altan chuckled. "Looks like someone's excited!"

_Keep talking that way and I won't be responsible for my actions,_ Daniel thought darkly. _I'm not a child to be patronised._ "I'm ready. Can we go now, please?"

For the first time in what seemed a very long time he stepped out of the apartment and walked down a hall. Altan and Sihrada led him past engineering and countless other places before they reached the area where the bridge was. They walked past that, down another hall, and into a room. Daniel guessed this was where the Council met. All of them were already seated and all-ALL-of them were looking at him.

"Council," Altan and Sihrada said at once with a little bow. "Thank you for seeing us. This is Daniel, the Dhanha-ahvti who wishes his case to be discussed."

Daniel stepped forward and bowed, choosing to ignore Altan's identifying him as "Dhanha-ahvti." With luck, he would be able to do something about that misconception. "Thank you for making time to see me," he said clearly in Avwand.

This surprised the Council, but they subdued their surprise and motioned the three of them to chairs. "You are welcome. Please, have a seat."

Altan and Sihrada sat while Daniel pulled himself up into his, watched with varying degrees of interest by the Council. Once he was settled the Council began to talk, outlining the history of SG-1 since they had arrived on the ship. As he listened Daniel realized that what he was hearing described four indviduals who behaved much like children: going off by themselves and making their hosts worry, breaking something in their quarters because they didn't like it, avoiding their lessons...Hoo, boy. This was not going to be easy.

The descriptions continued from there to Daniel's separation from his friends and their growing recalcitrance. They also detailed Daniel's actions since then, which they said had been supplied by Altan. (Daniel glanced at him and promised himself revenge _later_.) While they were impressed with Daniel's self-possession and displayed maturity since his removal to Altan's quarters, they were not convinced that allowing him to return to his friends would be the best thing for them or him.

"Do you understand why we aren't allowing you to return to your friends, Daniel?" the Council's speaker asked.

"I understand, yes," Daniel admitted reluctantly.

"Good," the speaker said pleasantly. "We are glad. You will see your friends soon. Altan, Sihrada, thank you for bringing him."

Altan and Sihrada both rose, but Daniel stayed in his chair. "Wait a moment, please, Council. Am I not allowed to speak?"

All of them looked at him, clearly surprised. "About what, Daniel?"

This was ludicrous. "I thought you wanted to know more about me," he said, remembering Sihrada's words of the night before. "Have you changed your mind?"

"Why do you think we asked you to come? Seeing you was all we needed. We can tell you are a very mature and intelligent Dhanha-ahvti and your patience will stand you in good stead once we return to Avwand. You will be reunited with your friends then. By that time they will have gained proficiency in our language and we will have made arrangements for all of you so that you are comfortable."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Arrangements?" Daniel gasped. "Wait-what about us returning home?"

All of the Council stared at him. "The _circle_? Absolutely not! That's far too dangerous!"

"But it isn't," Daniel contradicted. "We've traveled through the circle countless times and there has never been a problem. If the ship returns to where we were when we boarded we can return home."

"Ridiculous," one Council member said. "We could not allow that in good conscience, Daniel."

"But-"

The Council was not in the mood to listen. "Daniel, we know that you aren't happy about not seeing your home again, but really, this accident of your coming aboard has worked out for the best. You will be able to live on Avwand and the Avwand people are more than happy to take care of you. You will have work and a place to live your life and you will be safe. You'll have your own friends and you'll make Avwand friends and you won't have to worry about anything."

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You can't do that to us," Daniel said desperately. "We can't be happy that way."

"Why not?"

"Because self-determination is a very important concept to us," Daniel told them. "If you take away our choices like that...It's profoundly upsetting for us. We can't bear it. From what you've told me today it sounded like you've expected us to settle all this time, but we can't settle when we think that our self-determination is being taken away."

"You are Dhanha-ahvti," the speaker said dismissively. "We are only offering you another set of choices under different circumstances, Daniel. We aren't going to leave you with no choices at _all_, little one."

In his head, Daniel could see a miniature version of himself running around screaming, _No, no, no!_ This was not going well. "We are not Dhanha-ahvti! We don't need you to take care of us, Council," he said, fighting to keep his composure. If he lost his temper they would not listen at all. "We need to return home. That way, your people won't have to take care of us and we can be with our own people."

"Our people will not mind taking care of you," another Council member said, effectively killing that argument. "They are all very interested in you since you are so different from other races we've encountered and the most like us."

Suddenly Daniel felt very, very cold. It seemed their major motivation for keeping them there was _their_ curiosity! How far would their curiosity take them in their "care" of SG-1? He could think of any number of unpleasant scenarios and panic made him speak before he had time to consider his words. "You can't," he said. "Please, you can't do this to us."

"It will all work out for the best," the speaker said calmly. "You'll see, Daniel. We look forward to seeing you again."

He could tell they weren't going to listen to him. Numbly, he got to his feet, bowed mechanically, and left with Sihrada and Altan, his mind working furiously.

He'd tried to work by their rules. Sihrada had done all she could and Altan thought that what he was doing was right. He could expect no further help from his "guardians" and the Council was not in the mood to listen. As he thought about how the last hour or so had gone he began to get angry. They'd had no intention of listening to him from the beginning! They didn't bother to even consider a thing he'd said! Well, he was going to _make_ them listen!

He whirled and headed back the way they'd come, moving toward's the Council's meeting room.

"Daniel!" Altan said, rushing after him. "What are you doing?"

Daniel ignored him and increased his pace. Altan wasn't going to stop him.

"Daniel, stop!"

Daniel broke into a run. Altan caught up to him, grabbed his arm, turned him, and-_whap_!

The stinging blow to his rear made Daniel freeze. His mind understood what had just happened, but it refused to process the event. He stared up at Altan, his mind still stuck in neutral.

"Don't do that again," Altan told him sternly. "Understand?"

Still numb, Daniel nodded.

"Good. We're going home now."

Daniel didn't even protest as Sihrada and Altan led him through the corridors to their quarters. He didn't hear their chatter or Sihrada's queries of how he was. He didn't even notice where they were until they were standing in the living room.

"I'm not going to apologize for punishing you physically," Altan said, kneeling down so his face was on a level close to Daniel's. "I told you to stop and you did not, and it is dangerous to run about like that on a ship. Do you understand why I punished you the way I did?"

He wasn't about to argue. There would be no point to it. "Yes, I understand."

"I'm glad," Altan said. "Did you understand everything the Council told you?"

"Yes." It was true. He'd understood it all, but as for accepting it... "I understand. May I be excused, please? This has tired me out and I need to lie down."

Altan nodded. "Very well. One of us will be in to check on you in a while."

Daniel thanked him and went to his room, resolutely closing the door behind himself. They could check on him if they liked. Checking on him wouldn't let them know what he was thinking. A tiny seed of plan had planted itself in his mind and it was beginning to grow.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10—Encounter

Sihrada was almost frantic. Daniel wasn't eating and the dark shadows under his eyes showed that he wasn't sleeping. He seemed distracted and depressed, and it was an effort to get him to talk in more than monosyllables. Nothing seemed to interest him anymore. He didn't read and he toyed with his food at meals. He spent quite a lot of time on his own, either daydreaming or staring off into space.

What really scared Sihrada was the fact that he seemed to lose energy. She knew he was receiving the nutritional supplement he needed and the proper mix of gases he needed in his air was pumped into his bedroom at night, but he still seemed sluggish. No, not sluggish, he was utterly exhausted. He didn't move around anymore. He just sat most of the time. He would sit with a book that he didn't look at or he would sit at a table with some drawing paper and art supplies that they'd given him, but he'd do little else. If he did draw, it looked like he made just a few lines on the paper before giving up. Once she found him moving a marker back and forth on the paper, just gazing off to nowhere, as if he had no idea what he was doing.

"You have to do something," Sihrada pleaded with Altan the evening of the day she found Daniel doing that. "There's something very wrong with him!"

"The Council has told me that he'll be fine," Altan said, trying to reassure her.

"The Council isn't here seeing him day after day!" she retorted, jabbing an angry finger in Daniel's direction. "_Look_ at him, Altan! Does that seem as if he's fine?"

Carefully, Altan watched Daniel as he doodled on a sheet of paper in the living room.

"He's been there all day," Sihrada said in a low voice. "You heard him say this morning at breakfast that he wasn't that hungry, and he said the same thing at lunch. I had to bargain with him to get him to eat. After lunch, I sent him to take a nap since he looked so tired, but he was back up after a short time, saying that he didn't feel like sleeping. Since then, he's been in there drawing or just…well, you can see for yourself."

Altan looked at Sihrada, concerned at how worried she sounded.

"He doesn't smile anymore and he doesn't talk," she said, leaning her head on Altan's shoulder. "It's as if all the joy's been sucked out of him. Before, he would talk to me and ask questions. Now, it's like someone emptied his body of his self and just left a shell behind. Altan, we have to do something!"

Altan nodded. Now that Sihrada had told him and described Daniel's behavior…she was right that something had to be done.

"I'll speak to the Council," he promised. "I'll call a meeting tomorrow. I'll tell them that Daniel isn't thriving and that we need to make some changes to help him. It may help him to see his friends."

Sihrada wrapped her arms around her husband. "Thank you, Altan."

Space

Ebbas abruptly left the room, entered the sound-proofed observation room next door, and let loose with a string of Avwand profanity that would have had Daniel taking notes if he could have heard it. The three remaining members of SG-1 couldn't hear it, but they had an idea of what was going on, so they kept expressions of calm and blithe innocence on their faces and pretended that they just hadn't seen Ebbas go storming out. Oh, no. No, they were in the midst of their lessons and they were doing very well and all was right with the little Dhanha-ahvti.

"It's remarkable," Shansarra remarked to Maraba while Ebbas indulged in his profanity. "At first, they couldn't seem to care less, but now they're almost as fluent as Daniel."

"It's more than remarkable; it's downright miraculous," Maraba answered. "One would think that Ebbas would be pleased rather than the contrary."

"Oh, he's pleased, he's just run out of patience for right now. He's found them to be very trying of late."

They both knew that the word _trying_ was an understatement. Ebbas had found them maddening. First, they wouldn't cooperate at all until Daniel was returned to them, and then they had such enthusiasm for their lessons that their teachers had trouble keeping up with them! The only vindication any of the Avwand had was the fact that taking Daniel away for a while had encouraged the other Dhanha-ahvti to learn the language, but all of them were finding it scant comfort. In short, their charges were starting to tire them out.

If the Avwand knew that SG-1 found this fact very amusing and just according to their plan, all of their teachers would indulge in a lengthy monologue of profanity.

"I think they're starting to crack just a little," Jack said quietly as he reviewed the written work in front of him. He'd been asked to copy two pages from a book to practice his script, and that was what he had done. It was so neat and close to the original that it was practically sarcastic.

"Good," Sam said, sounding pleased. "I think they kind of deserve it with what they've done to Daniel. He's bound to be going stir-crazy by now."

"I hope Daniel Jackson is driving his handlers more than a little distracted," Teal'c said evenly, his eyes glued to a book. "I only wish we were there to see it happen."

Space

"He was fine last week when we saw him," the Council Speaker said. "How could he change so quickly?"

"We don't know," Altan admitted, sounding worried. He'd arranged a meeting the day after Sihrada had drawn his attention to Daniel's behavior and the soonest the Council could see him had been the next day. He'd spent the intervening time making visual records of Daniel's behavior to share with them and having Daniel's physician, Kallan, look him over. "Sihrada's been keeping an eye on him all along and she says that she thinks he's entered some kind of decline. It's as if he can't work up the energy for anything."

"Have you taken him to the infirmary?" one of the Council asked, staring at the screen. He, too, looked worried at the change in Daniel.

"I was told that there's no physical reason for these changes," Altan said, handing a copy of the physician's report to the Speaker. "His appetite is practically non-existent, he is listless, and he sleeps poorly. He's lost weight and he seems distracted. The physician concludes his report by saying that since there's no medical cause he can find, the cause must be a purely mental one."

All of the Council shifted in their seats. They didn't like this. Daniel and the rest of the Dhanha-ahvti were vastly important since they came from so far away, but the fact that one of them was ill and most likely getting worse was worrying. Sihrada had told them that Daniel had told her his people pined when kept from others of their kind for too long, and it looked like it was true. Daniel looked as if he was too depressed to take notice of the world around him.

If they'd known what was really going on, they would have been livid.

Space

_Another day down_, Daniel thought as he got into bed that night. _I have a strong feeling that it won't be that much longer. At least, I hope so._

The plan was simple, which made it very likely to work. He was making them worry. He never let himself eat very much, he stayed up late and got up at his usual time, and he let his mind wander during his waking hours. Sure, he was hungry and tired as all get-out, not to mention bored out of his skull, but the plan was effective. What was a little hunger and fatigue and boredom when suffering a little discomfort would get him reunited with his friends?

The plan looked like it was working, but it did nothing for how guilty he was feeling about Sihrada. She was worried sick about him. She spent all her time trying to entertain him and trying to get him to eat more. The other day she'd actually picked him up and held him the way someone would comfort an upset child. While he appreciated the gesture, he told himself not to really respond to it. He had to make them think that he was going downhill, and once he saw SG-1 again, he would "improve." He would start eating and sleeping normally, and then the Avwand wouldn't dare take him away from his friends again.

At least, that was what he hoped. It was fully possible that once they saw any improvement they would take him away again.

_Don't worry about that now,_ he told himself. _Worry about that later when you actually have the energy to deal with it. One thing at a time, Daniel._

So far, so good. He knew Sihrada had spoken to Altan about him and he'd heard the Council mentioned, but he didn't want to get ahead of himself. He knew Altan had gone off earlier that day, but that didn't mean he'd gone to see the Council. He could have gone somewhere else. Besides, even if he had gone to see the Council it didn't mean that the Council would do what he wanted.

_Wait,_ he told himself. _Be patient. Things will happen when they happen._

Turning his thoughts away, Daniel sought comfort in one of his mental tricks: words in other languages. _Let's see,_ he thought. _What about the word "friends"? Yes, that's fine. Friends._ He began to run the word through each language he spoke, coming up its equivalent. _Friends, amis, amigos, amici, amicus from Latin, plural is amici, drooziya, vriends, sadiqi, and...let's see, what next? _

What would have come next he never knew, because that was when his over-tired body decided to sleep.

Space

This was the third Council about Daniel and Altan and Kallan were more than a little frustrated with how slowly things were going. The Council couldn't seem to decide on what to do and the both of them found that more than a little annoying.

"Council, I know how reluctant you are to appear to give in, but this isn't a child's tantrum," Daniel's physician said. "He's entered a rather rapid decline, and frankly, I find his condition alarming. I know Altan and Sihrada have done everything they can to help Daniel, but despite their best efforts he continues to get worse. I weighed him yesterday when Altan and Sihrada brought him to me for a checkup and I weighed him again before this meeting and he's _lost_ weight. Council, I am begging you, as a physician and as an Avwand, to reunite Daniel with the three other Dhanha-ahvti. I can't think of any other way to help him."

The Speaker shifted in his chair. "Physician, what if he was moved to the infirmary?" he asked hopefully. "You could monitor him-"

"This isn't an illness that medicines can treat," Kallan retorted.

"So it's a disease of the mind?" the Speaker asked with relief, latching onto that. "Would counseling help?"

"It might, but then again, it might not," Kallan said, fighting down the urge to kill the Speaker. "Are you willing to take a chance with his health while we figure out whether or not counseling will help?"

He had a point and the Council knew it. They talked a few minutes amongst themselves, but he and Altan knew that it was only for form's sake.

"All right," the Speaker said. "What would you suggest?"

"Full reunification," Kallan said. "Daniel moves back to the Dhanha-ahvti's quarters and we continue to monitor his condition while he's there. We don't take him somewhere else to sleep at night or take him somewhere else for his meals; he stays there. Hopefully, spending time with his friends will have the effect we want."

"And once he recovers-" one of the older Council members began, but the physician cut him off.

"He remains with them. Would you want to have him enter this decline again? Frankly, I don't think my nerves could take it."

"Your point is well made," the Speaker said. "All right. Altan, Kallan, consider this meeting your authorization to place Daniel back with his friends, effective immediately."

Relief rushed through Kallan and Altan. Altan, especially, was relieved since this meant that Sihrada would be happy. She'd come to adore the little Dhanha-ahvti and was worried sick about him. If he recovered with his friends then she would be a much happier person.

Space

Daniel was deep in his imagination when Sihrada put a hand on his shoulder. It took him a moment to come out of his daydream and when he looked up at her he couldn't understand why she was smiling. "Sihrada? What is it?"

"The Council has decided," she said, crouching down next to him. "Daniel, you're going to go back to your friends. You'll be staying with them."

Daniel shook his head. "No, I won't. You heard the Council at the meeting."

"You mean the one you attended?" she asked.

He nodded.

"There have been more meetings about you," she said. "They've decided that it will be better for you to return to your friends."

Daniel blinked and stared at her, still looking as if he didn't believe her.

"It's true," she hastened to reassure him. "You'll be going today at lunchtime. You'll be able to eat with your friends and then you'll stay. Do want to come with me and pick what you'd like to take with you?"

"There's no reason to," Daniel said. "They probably didn't mean it."

Sihrada was beginning to be alarmed. "Daniel, I promise, you'll see them today."

"Mm-hmm." By this point he was staring into space again and she could tell that he was no longer listening. A hand shaking his shoulder brought him back to the present moment. "What?"

"Don't do that again," Sihrada pleaded. "It frightens me, Daniel. Believe me; you're going to your friends later today."

"All right, Sihrada," Daniel said. "I'll be ready."

"Are you going to go off into your own head again?" she demanded.

"No," he told her. "I'm thirsty. Could I have something to drink?"

She was more than happy to get him something to drink. As she went into the kitchen to get him something, Daniel wondered if he would have to fend off a tidal wave of drinks.

Space

"All right, settle down you three," Ebbas said, herding his charges toward the table. "It's lunchtime."

"I'm not done yet," Jack complained, looking up from the page he was writing.

Ebbas reached for patience. "It's time to eat."

"But I'm not done yet."

Ebbas counted to ten and then added another ten for good measure. In the interval, Bhanhana and Maraba had encouraged Jack to put away his materials and take his seat at the table.

"I was on a roll," Jack muttered. "Carter, did you see? I was rocking."

Sam laughed. In her opinion, her CO was taking this charade a little too far and the Avwand didn't understand him when he used slang like that, but perhaps it was all to the good. She could tell that their keepers were still wondering just what the heck had happened to turn them into model scholars. It was so fun to watch them exchange glances when they thought the Tau'ri weren't watching.

The door opened, revealing the captain. As one, SG-1 glared at him. He didn't speak, but he did reach behind himself and usher in a smaller figure...

"DANNY-BOY! Daniel! Daniel Jackson!"

Daniel looked up in time to see his three friends come hurtling toward him, and then he was trapped in a group hug that threatened to drive the breath from his lungs. He stared at his friends and anyone watching him would have thought that he couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. His friends were alternately telling him how glad they were to see him or asking him questions, but Daniel just stood there, staring at him.

The chatter cut off abruptly as Jack whirled on Altan. "What did you to do to him? What's wrong with him?"

"He hasn't been feeling well," Altan said. "The Council made the decision this morning to send him back to you."

"Feeling well?" Jack echoed. "He looks like someone half dead!"

The Avwand shifted uncomfortably, fully aware that such a statement was entirely true.

"Let me guess," Sam said coldly. "He told you more than once that he wouldn't do well separated from us and you didn't listen."

"Their expressions comfirm it," Teal'c said.

"I'm all right," Daniel said, sounding tired to death.

"Sure you are," Jack muttered. "Come and sit down."

The Avwand watched as the humans made Daniel comfortable on a cushion, and as soon as lunch was brought in his friends saw to it that he was served first. All through the meal the Avwand watched the interactions among the humans and Altan felt a huge surge of relief course through him when he saw Daniel eating. Maraba saw the change in his expression and asked him what the matter was.

"Well, Sihrada told me that he hasn't been eating very much, and last night I saw how right she was. It's very reassuring to see him eat with something like an appetite." While Daniel wasn't chowing down, he was eating most of his food. Ebbas almost choked on a mouthful when he saw Jack sneak a little tidbit of something onto Daniel's plate when Daniel's head was turned. Apparently, Jack thought his friend wasn't eating enough. He kept waiting for Daniel to notice and protest, but he didn't seem to realize what it was that Jack was doing.

"What did you spend all your time doing?" Sam asked Daniel. "Weren't you bored?"

"No, not really," Daniel answered. "I spent a lot of time with Altan's wife Sihrada. She kept me busy a lot of the time and looked after me. I think she liked having me around."

"She's very fond of you, Daniel," Altan put in.

Daniel nodded. "I know."

"So, what did you guys do?" Jack pressed.

"Oh, she'd read to me, talk to me, let me help her put meals together, and things like that."

Yep, it was just as Jack thought. He'd been bored. Things like that might keep Daniel busy, but it wouldn't have engaged his mind. Sure, reading was always good, but once Daniel had gotten to know a person in another culture and understood that culture then he needed to learn more. It sounded like he hadn't really gotten a chance for that.

Talk progressed to other topics and Jack glanced up in time to see the Avwand watching Daniel yet again. They'd kept an eye on him all during the meal, but now they were watching even more. He looked at Daniel and realized why: his eyelids were drooping and he looked all but asleep.

"Daniel Jackson, I think you should rest," Teal'c said, standing up and assisting Daniel to his feet.

"I'm fine, Teal'c," Daniel answered.

"Says the person who can barely keep his eyes open," Jack said, getting to his feet as well. "Teal'c's right, Daniel."

It didn't take long to get Daniel away from the table and stretched out on the nearest bed. The Avwand watched as Daniel settled into the pillows and closed his eyes while his friends gathered around him. It seemed that they were helping him the best way they knew how.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Ebbas watched his charges, vastly amused as they went about their business. Since Daniel's return, they had all quieted down. In fact, they spent most of their time quiet since Daniel appeared to need a lot of rest. While he and the other Avwand were worried about Daniel and the fact that he spent so much time asleep, Jack, Sam and Teal'c seemed to find nothing wrong. When Ebbas took Teal'c aside to ask him about this, Teal'c was ready with plenty off reassurance.

"Daniel Jackson will be fine," Teal'c told him. "Worry and stressful situations can be taxing for Tau'ri and usually after such a situation they rest more in order to recuperate."

"Tau'ri?" Ebbas questioned. He didn't understand the word.

"'Tauri' refers to people from the world of O'Neill, Major Carter, and Daniel Jackson," Teal'c explained.

Ebbas suddenly grasped the gist of what Teal'c was saying. "You're—Teal'c, are you telling me that you're from a different world? One other than the one your friends came from?"

"I am, indeed," Teal'c said. "My home is called Chulak, but for the past several years I have lived on Tau'ri. I have traveled through the Stargate as part of the team SG-1. We explore other worlds. When we arrived on your ship, we thought we had come to another world."

"I see," Ebbas said, his thoughts in a whirl. "Have you been many places?"

Teal'c nodded. "A great many. On many worlds, we have made friends."

"Amazing," Ebbas breathed, trying to regain his equilibrium. "Have all of these worlds been good places?"

"Some have, but not all," Teal'c said. "Not long ago we were on a very taxing world among people who wished to harm us. It was only Daniel Jackson's careful work that saved our lives. He convinced them that we meant no harm and that we should be allowed to leave without being harmed."

"I am glad that you were able to return home," Ebbas said, wondering just what had happened on that planet to make Teal'c look so grave. "Was your experience then as tiring as what Daniel's recent experiences have been?"

Teal'c looked thoughtful. "It may be so. When we returned home, we were given time to rest and recuperate. I recovered quickly, but with Daniel Jackson, Major Carter, and O'Neill it took longer. I remember Daniel Jackson spending a great deal of time asleep."

"So this is normal?" Ebbas said hopefully. He would like to be able to quit worrying.

"It is not," Teal'c said flatly. "Daniel Jackson is sleeping far more than I have ever seen him to do. It seems he is more tired than before."

"Why is that?"

Teal'c paused, looked at Daniel, and turned back to Ebbas. "I have a theory, but you may not like it."

"It doesn't matter if I like it or not," Ebbas pointed out. "Will you tell me?"

"Before, during stressful situations, Daniel Jackson had the support of his friends. We were with him through every difficulty and when he worried. During his recent separation from us, he worried and tried to get you to return him to us. He did not have our support then."

"Ah," Ebbas said, fully understanding what Teal'c was saying. "Thank you for explaining, Teal'c."

"You are welcome, Ebbas."

After Teal'c had returned to his friends Ebbas sat back to think about what he'd been told. In light of Teal'c's explanation, it all made sense. No wonder Daniel was tired! He'd been carrying worry during the entire time he was away from his friends! From what he'd learned during his lifetime, he knew that worry was a very heavy burden indeed.

Still, he wished Daniel would wake up and be his old self again. He was spending practically all his time asleep. He would wake in the morning, have breakfast, be awake long enough to wash up and talk some, and then he would fall back to sleep. He woke up at lunchtime long enough to eat something, then he would go back to sleep again. He woke up mid-afternoon and stayed awake. He would read with his friends, talk a while, they would have supper and talk some more, and by the time they were ready to go to sleep he was ready as well.

With Daniel asleep all the time, the Avwand were getting another look at the Dhanha-ahvti in their charge. Their behavior had changed yet again. They still worked at their lessons, but everyone could tell that their sole focus now was Daniel. They spoke quietly so they would not wake him and during meals they coaxed him to eat as much as possible. When he was awake they would slowly surround him as if to protect him from any attack and they were very careful not to let him do too much. They seemed to know instinctively when he would do better for being pushed to do a little more and they knew when he actually needed to rest.

"It's amazing," Maraba said, taking a seat next to Ebbas and watching the Tau'ri. It looked like Daniel needed to rest since all of them were guiding him toward the large cushion Daniel used for his naps during the day.

"What is?"

"How different they are," she said. "It's as if their whole concern now is Daniel."

"I was just thinking that," Ebbas admitted. "I'm starting to think that the situation was far more dire than we've understood. Otherwise, why would they be so concerned?"

"I hope that wasn't the case," Maraba said. "But I'm afraid you may be right. I suppose all we can do now is make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."

* * *

Jack settled on the cushion beside Daniel and kept his face as impassive as possible. Things were working out rather nicely. In fact, they couldn't be going better. Everything he'd observed so far told him that the Avwand had been very alarmed by Daniel's decline and his continuing fatigue. Right now, Jack had a feeling that if he told them Daniel needed the tears of stars to get well, they'd send people out in space suits to collect them. That, he'd pay big money to see. At the very least it would be as amusing as hell.

"How's Sleeping Beauty?" Carter asked as she left her project at the table and joined them.

"Still sleeping, not much of a beauty," Jack joked. "Do you think we've spooked our hosts enough?"

"Indubitably," Sam said, grinning. "You should hear Shansarra fret!"

"That's good. Now we just have to wait until Daniel's feeling more like himself before we can drop the whole worried act." Neither of them needed to remind the other that it hadn't really been an act. They had been very worried when Daniel was brought back looking like his own ghost and they were still worried, but the fretting was starting to abate. Daniel had put on some of his lost weight, his color was good, and he didn't look so exhausted all the time.

"You know, I think that when we get home, General Hammond will yell himself hoarse, welcome us back, unleash the infirmary on us, and then give us leave," Sam said happily. "It'll be good to unwind after this mission."

Jack looked at his 2IC, wondering if she'd finally flipped in the head. "Carter, don't get me wrong, but we're a long way from getting home. Don't you think it's a little early to be thinking about any possible leave?"

"Well, I've been thinking," she said.

Jack fixed her with a stare. "Thinking. That's good."

"Yes, sir," she said, smiling. "I think that we may actually have several options open to us."

Jack took in the words, but he didn't understand. "Come again?"

"Well, do you remember what Daniel told us about the Avwand using the Gate only to transport goods and the like?"

"Yeah," Jack admitted. Where was she going with this?

"Daniel told me that he learned that they'd modified several Gates and they use them to load their biggest ships. We're on one now. Well, even if we don't manage to get home before we get back to their planet, there's still a Gate on their planet. While we were on the bridge that night we met Maraba I got a look at what looked like maps. I didn't understand what I saw then, but I do now. We can use the same point of origin for our original destination to return home. It is fully possible that our original destination could have been the Avwand homeworld or one of its neighbors. Anyway, we're covered if my suppositions are correct and I'm fairly certain they are."

"What makes you so sure?" Jack asked, unable to help himself. Any error at all could mean they were stranded.

"Maraba," Sam said. "When she learned how interested I was in the ship and in astronomy, she brought me all kinds of books. Now that I know Avwand well enough to read it I've been able to do some research. Sir, I think that I'm right. In fact, I'm so certain I'm right that I know I'm right. We have a way to get home even if we miss our original arrival point."

"Do you think we should still try to make our original arrival point?" Jack asked. "You know, break out of here and hightail it for the Gate and dial? Not Earth, of course. By this point they'll have locked us out just in case we've fallen into the hands of enemies."

"We could dial the Alpha site," Sam suggested. "Or one of our allies. Then, we could dial home from there and let them know that we haven't been compromised."

"Sounds like you guys have a plan," Daniel's muffled voice said.

"Sorry, did we wake you, Daniel?" Sam asked.

Daniel shook his head. "Nah. I woke up on my own. I think I'm napped out or something. I can't go back to sleep."

"Sleeping Beauty's awake without a kiss," Sam joked.

"Huh?"

"Never mind," Jack said. "Hungry? Thirsty?"

"Both," Daniel said, sitting up. "Homesick for coffee, too."

"Well, in the absence of coffee, we have Avwand fruit juice," Jack said. At his insistence, the Avwand had installed something like a minibar: it was a small refrigeration unit that held cold drinks and food. They'd given in and installed the thing when he told them that Daniel would often need small meals and that sometimes he would be hungry in the middle of the night. He had weight to put back on. At that grim reminder of how thoroughly they'd screwed up, capitulation was not long in coming. "You go sit at the table and I'll assemble a feast for you, all right?"

"Thanks, Jack," Daniel said, getting up and making his way to the table.

"Hey, my pleasure," Jack said, thinking of how Frasier would yell at him if he brought Daniel back in less-than-peak condition. The last time that had happened she'd accused him of not taking care of his archeologist. He didn't want to give her more ammunition, and besides, he'd feel better once Daniel ate. He still looked too skinny.

"So, you think we can get back from the Avwand homeworld?" Daniel asked quietly as Jack brought him his snack.

"I'm pretty sure," Sam said. "From the maps I saw in the bridge, we're still in the same section of space."

"Sounds encouraging," Daniel said thoughtfully as he took a sip. "We're still close enough to use the original point of origin, then. That's good."

"That's great, actually," Sam said, sounding very happy. "That means we'll be able to get out of here with a minimum of fuss."

"A low fuss factor is good," Jack said, leaning back in his seat. "I can't wait to get home and catch the latest 'Simpsons' episodes. I've got a lot to catch up on."

Daniel laughed, swallowed the wrong way, and two seconds later he was being pounded on the back by Jack. "Thanks," he said as soon as his throat cleared.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Daniel hurried to reassure his friend. "I laughed and something went down wrong."

"We just get you back and then you try to choke to death?" Jack teased. "Smooth, Daniel. Real smooth. You want to get me into trouble with Janet, don't you?"

"It's just so much fun to watch her get mad at you," Daniel teased back.

"It is especially amusing to listen to her tirade against O'Neill," Teal'c added as he joined the group.

"I get no respect," Jack muttered a la Rodney Dangerfield.

"On the contrary, O'Neill, we have great respect for you, as does Dr. Frasier," Teal'c corrected. "She just dislikes seeing us in less-than-peak condition."

"Ah, I think she really likes it if one of us comes back injured or sick," Jack said. "She just loves to yell at me over something."

Jack's tone made all of them laugh. They all knew that he counted Janet as a friend and really didn't mind being yelled at as long as there was a pretty nurse nearby. Two were even better.

"So, what do you guys think we should do today now that Daniel's up?" Jack said easily into the silence that followed. "Mayhem? Chaos? General discord?"

"We could drive Ebbas crazy by refusing to study today," Sam suggested. "We've been so diligent in our studies lately that the change is bound to make him go nuts."

"I feel that would be most amusing," Teal'c said, smiling. "More amusing, however, would be requesting to go to the dining hall."

They all looked at him. "Why would that be amusing?" Jack wanted to know.

"It is something he is reluctant to do, so we will insist," Teal'c explained. "That will keep us amused the better part of an hour. Besides, I find a have a craving for the salad bar."

Jack grinned. "Oh, Teal'c. You evil, evil guy."

Sam was grinning just as much and Daniel was trying to keep from smiling. He could just imagine Ebbas going nuts and he knew it wouldn't be nice to laugh at someone else's mental breakdown, but...well. The mental images his mind kept coming up with were hysterically funny. "I think I'd like to visit the dining hall, too. We could promise to be on our best behavior."

Jack snickered. "Oh, yeah. Best behavior. We'll be little angels and everyone of Ebbas & Co. will wonder just what the heck happened...again!"

* * *

Ebbas was very surprised when Daniel approached him with a request to go and have a meal in the dining hall. He was on the verge of refusing when Daniel told him that he was very, very hungry and he wanted a little more variety than he'd had in his meals up until now. Since the dining hall had a large selection available, Ebbas agreed. Anything that made Daniel want to eat was a good thing. He still had weight to put back on.

"Would you like me to call Sihrada?" Ebbas asked in a fit of sudden inspiration. "I'm sure she'd like to see how you're doing."

Daniel smiled. "I'd like that very much, thank you."

It took Ebbas, Shansarra, Bhanhana, and Lralda very little time to inform Daniel's friends that they were going to the dining hall that day for lunch. It didn't take them long to get ready and soon Ebbas and his friends were leading Daniel and his friends through the corridors of the ship toward the dining hall. Different Avwand greeted them as they passed by and before long they were in the dining hall with the smell of food tantalizing their nostrils. Maraba and Sihrada were there, and the first thing Daniel did was go to Sihrada for a hug. Jack saw him say something to her, but he couldn't hear it. It looked like "thank you." Sihrada said something back and then it was feeding time.

Once again, all four of them were a huge attraction. Jack could tell that the other Avwand were watching them surreptitiously all through their meals and found them fascinating. Daniel, however, seemed to be drawing the most attention since he had a small feast in front of himself and was slowly working his way through it. A bite or two of this, a bite or two of that, a little soup, some salad, a few tiny sandwiches...Daniel knew how to eat with variety. He could remember Daniel telling him about celebration feasts on Abydos and the key to getting through them was eating just a little bit of everything. If you refused a dish on Abydos then you insulted your hosts, so you had to at least eat a little of whatever they offered you. Now, it looked like learning how to eat through a feast was standing Daniel in good stead now.

"You look like you're enjoying that," Sihrada said while Daniel munched on what looked like a piece of fruit.

"Mmm," Daniel said, swallowing. "I didn't realize how hungry I was."

"You look a lot better," Sihrada said, deeply pleased. "And you're not so thin. I can't tell you how relieved I am."

"Oh, I can imagine," Daniel said. "Jack, Sam and Teal'c all probably feel the same way. They're always offering me things to eat and drink and encouraging me to nap. You'd think I was on the verge of dying or something."

Sihrada looked alarmed. "You're not, are you?"

"Oh, no," Daniel assured her. "I think I would know if I was dying. Actually, right now, I feel pretty good."

"Good to hear," Sihrada said. "The Council stopped by this morning."

Daniel could practically feel his friends' ears pricking up. "Did they?"

"Yes," she nodded. "They came to discuss with me what your futures will be once we return to Avwand. Apparently, they feel I am something of an expert when it comes to you since I spent so much time with you. I told them I couldn't really tell them anything about Jack, Sam or Teal'c, but they asked me several questions about you."

"What did they ask?" Daniel asked, feeling somewhat amused. If the look of mischief was anything to go by, then Sihrada had let them have it.

"They asked what your talents were and things like that. I told them that they would be complete and utter idiots not to have you lecture on sociology at one of our educational institutions."

Daniel laughed and nearly choked for the second time that day. It was clear she'd been thinking about what he'd told her about societies and how they could interact. "What did they say?"

Sihrada sat up straight and fixed an exaggerated scowl on her face. "A Dhanha-ahvti lecturing? Ridiculous!" Her very tone brought to mind one of the more pompous (and closed-minded) Council members.

Jack laughed. "So, what did the Council say about Daniel?"

"He will most likely be offered work in a school, library, or museum," Sihrada said. "Nothing too strenuous, according to them."

"Well, I'll fit right in, then," Daniel said calmly. "Would I be teaching in the school?"

Sihrada shook her head. "It's more likely that you'll assist the teacher."

"Daniel's good at teaching and...stuff like that," Jack said, filing the information away. "Did they tell you what kind of positions the rest of us will have?"

Sihrada nodded. "Altan told me once the Council told him. Sam will be offered work in one of our research facilities. You and Teal'c will be offered positions with either the peacekeeping forces or with the shipping fleet. They're trying to play to your talents."

"I see," Jack said quietly. "When we get there, where will we live? In an apartment or dorm?"

"Your living quarters will depend on your families," she said.

Jack dropped his spoon, sloshing soup over the table. "What? Our families?"

"According to the Council, you'll each be placed with a different family within our capital city. They will take the place of your human families and you will be given the opportunity to meet every few days."

"Oh, hell to the no," Jack said, getting to his feet in outrage. Realizing he was several feet shorter than the Avwand even while they were seated, he reversed tactics and retook his chair, only to stand on it. At least now he could look them in the eye. "There is no way I'm going to let anybody separate us! We just got Daniel back! He looked like somebody half-dead after being separated from us for a short time, so what do you think will happen if we're separated from one another?"

"I told them it was a very bad idea," Sihrada said. "I reminded them of Daniel's condition while he was away from you, but they said that they'll arrange for you to have regular contact."

"I don't find that reassuring," Daniel said. "Can this ship's Council actually make that happen on the planet?"

"They can suggest it to the World Council."

"But would the World Council follow through with that?" Sam wanted to know. She was beginning to get very worried. If they were separated on the Avwand homeworld, getting all of them home would be very difficult.

"That I don't know," Sihrada admitted. "I wish I did."

"As do I," Teal'c said, sounding grim. "Would the World Council listen to a recommendation from one of its citizens?"

"If they have experience in the matter at hand, then yes," Sihrada said unhappily. "I thought that the four of you should at least be warned."

Daniel felt relief flood through him. They had at least one Avwand on their side! "Thank you, Sihrada."

She smiled and gave Daniel's shoulder a squeeze. "You're welcome."

* * *

Ebbas wondered just what had happened to make his charges change yet again. They'd had a good meal at the dining hall as they'd requested and afterward he'd taken them to the conservatory so they could walk around in a semi-natural setting. After all, Maraba had suggested that they would enjoy being around growing and living things. It was clear they enjoyed themselves at first, but then they ceased to pay attention to their surroundings as they gathered into a tight little knot and began talking. He'd learned a few of their words simply from hearing them repeated over and over again, but now, he couldn't pick up any he knew. They were discussing something intently and he wondered if it had anything to do with what Maraba had told them. They'd found the fact that they might be split up worrying, but then, he didn't feel they really had anything to worry about. After all, it wasn't as if they would be living on different planets! They would be able to see each other any time they wished.

He sighed, wondering just what it was that made his charges so stubborn. As soon as they got an idea in their heads then he couldn't get them to think of anything else until they'd latched onto the next idea, which was usually something that caused him as much of a headache as the first one. What made them behave in this way?

Even more mystifying was Sihrada's behavior. She'd come to lunch, chatted with everyone in turn and then left, but not before slipping a note into Ebbas' hand. Why she wanted to talk to him in private was beyond him, but he was certain he could make the time once the Dhanha-ahvti were asleep.


End file.
